Megan Balmer said she plans to use her lottery winnings to pay off debt and save for her children’s’ college funds.
An Iowan became the only Powerball winner to take home a $2 million prize when her easy-pick ticket came just one number away from the near-record $725 million jackpot.
Megan Balmer purchased her easy-pick lottery ticket Monday night at a local Casey’s near her home in Garwin just before the sale cut-off time with her boyfriend, Mike Ellis. When they checked the numbers an hour later at home, they could hardly believe it.
“I had a ticket with multiple plays on it and I saw the numbers, and I double-checked on the website a couple times,” the 36-year-old nurse from Tama County told the Iowa Lottery at their Clive headquarters. “And then I checked on the app and didn’t quite believe what I was seeing. Then we called my stepmom and we went and checked it at another Casey’s gas station and verified that it was a winner.”
Racing to the Casey’s just before closing time Monday night, Balmer said she could hardly contain her tears when the clerk confirmed she’d won a $2 million prize.
