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Elizabeth Johnson of Lucama bought her Powerball ticket too late for last Wednesday’s drawing, but in plenty of time to win $2 million in last Saturday’s, according to a press release from the North Carolina Education Lottery.

The lucky twist of fate started last Wednesday when, at the end of a busy day, she rushed to get her numbers into that night’s Powerball drawing. Or at least, she thought she had.

As fate would have it, Johnson actually missed the 9:57 p.m. cutoff to buy a ticket using Online Play by one minute. Her bad luck turned into good luck last Saturday because her Quick Pick ticket was good for that drawing.

“It was definitely a shock!” said Johnson. “When I got the message saying that I had won I thought, ‘Well, I didn’t even play tonight.’”

Her lucky $3 Power Play ticket matched the numbers on all five white balls to win $1 million in the Saturday, May 22 drawing. Johnson’s prize doubled to $2 million when the 2X multiplier was drawn. The odds of matching all five white balls are 1 in 11.6 million.

Johnson, who works as an interpreter, claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and took home $1,415,001 after required federal and state tax withholdings. She says she’ll buy a house and go on vacation with her big win.

“The kids want to go to Disneyland,” said Johnson. “We’ve never been and now we’ll get to.”

For details on ways North Carolina benefits from lottery funds, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.

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