Lucky woman scoops £850,000 lottery jackpot buying her first ever lottery ticket

A lucky woman has bagged an £850,000 ($1million) lottery jackpot despite having never played the competition before.

Joni Thompson picked up her ticket on a whim earlier this month.

And the Stanwood, Michigan, US, woman didn't even know she had won until she came across a social media post about the winner of the mega-prize coming from the area of Mecosta County.

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Upon reading it, she started “hyperventilating, screaming and crying”.

Speaking to local news outlets, she said: “I'd never played Powerball before, but I decided to purchase a ticket after seeing the jackpot was over $1billion.

“After the drawing, I saw a social media post about a $1million prize being won in Mecosta county, so went to the Lottery site to write down the winning numbers and then checked my ticket.

“When I realized I'd matched five numbers and was the big winner, I started hyperventilating, screaming, and crying!

“I had my son scan my ticket on his Lottery app to make sure I was reading it right – it's hard to describe what it feels like to win $1million.

“I am still speechless!”

The woman's lucky numbers were 10, 33, 41, 47 and 56.

She picked up her ticket from the Country Corner Supermarket in Stanwood and went to the Lottery's headquarters in Michigan to collect the prize.

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Store manager Kenzie Hixson said: “It feels like we ourselves won the lottery.

“We found out from a couple people texting us, and we're thrilled.

“We were jumping up and down, giving each other high fives, and customers have been calling us, and it's a really cool experience to share with our staff because they have been stuck behind the lotto machines all weekend selling tickets.

“It's been a little daunting.”

Joni told officials there that she was going to use her winnings to “build my new business and then put the remainder into savings”.

She is the executive director of a charity called Angels of Action.

It helps children and families in need in Mecosta and Osceola counties, which is now where some of her winnings will go.

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