'I Thought It Was A Joke': LI Grandmother Wins $1M In NY Lotto

STONY BROOK, NY — A Stony Brook grandmother of 11 thought someone was playing a practical joke on her when she received an email informing her she "won big" in the New York State lottery. But the woman, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, was the lucky winner of a $1 million dollar prize.

According to a representative from Jackpocket, a third-party app that allows lotto players to order state tickets from home, the woman suspected her son was pranking her.

“When I first got the emails, I honestly thought it was a practical joke. I thought my son, 40, had done something with the app, and sent it to me as a prank. My son would be known to do something like that," she said.

Her son told her it wasn't him, and it slowly dawned on her that it was real.

The lifelong Stony Brook resident has been renting an apartment and plans to use her winnings to purchase a house. She will also put some of it toward college savings for each of her 11 grandchildren.

The grandmother says she almost didn't buy the life-changing ticket.

"When the pandemic hit, I wasn’t going to go to pick up a ticket when you’re not supposed to be going anywhere. That’s why I was happy when the app came out and we were able to participate in New York...I was at the point where I was going back and forth about buying a ticket. It was kind of like one hour left to be able to purchase on the app."

The woman said she is still processing the news but shared how the prize will change her life.

"It’ll definitely change my life for the better because I’ll be able to put some money away for each of my grandchildren for college. I won’t have to worry about money all of the time.”

And she's still going to keep playing lotto.

“I’ll keep playing. It’s entertaining. You have these dreams about what you can do and all that. Being hopeful is a good thing.”