Tuesday, Nov 06, 2012
UNITED STATES - For more than five months, Ms Julie Cervera struggled to pay her electrical bill, feed her family and keep the cable company from shutting off her service.
Meanwhile, her US$23 million (S$28 million) lottery ticket languished forgotten in the glove compartment of her car.
On Thursday, someone texted her a photo of her daughter, Ms Charliena Marquez, buying the winning ticket for her at a liquor store in San Bernardino, California in the US.
The photo had been released by lottery officials searching for the mysterious winner of the May draw.
She recognised her daughter in the grainy photo, but she still couldn't read the caption, reported AP.
"I thought she robbed a bank because I couldn't see the words on top," Ms Cervera said with a laugh.
"So I put on a third pair (of glasses) and it said she won."
Back in May, mother and daughter were driving home when the daughter felt queasy and asked her mother to pull over so she could buy a bottle of water.
Ms Cervera asked Ms Marquez to buy her a lottery ticket and dug in her purse to find a dollar.
Her daughter protested but eventually used her own money to buy a Super Lotto Plus ticket for her mum.
"I put it in my new car," Ms Cervera said on Friday at a news conference with her three adult children and half a dozen grandchildren lined up behind her.
"I've got like 200 tickets lying around my house. I never check my tickets."
But when she finally looked in the glove compartment, the winning ticket was right where she had left it.
It was set to expire on Nov 26, so the California Lottery went looking for the winner.
Ms Cervera, a widow who has lived on disability for 20 years, said her family has been through difficult times recently.
Last year, her 47-year-old son Rudy was killed in a motorcycle accident, leaving four teenage children.
She said: "My grandkids are all going to be taken care of, and my (three) daughters."
She also has two adopted sons, aged five and nine, who have developmental disabilities.
"A big portion is going to them, so that when I'm gone they'll be OK," she said.
She had only 180 days to claim her prize. If she hadn't acted, the millions would have gone to California schools.
