Lucky winner 'nearly passed out with the excitement'

There will be major celebrations this weekend for a lucky Cork woman who has won half a million euros in what she described as a “sliding doors moment”.

After “randomly” buying the €20 All Cash Extravaganza scratch card at Herlihy’s Maxol store in Ballincollig, the woman said she couldn’t believe her eyes as she scratched her way to the top prize of €500,000.

“I’d usually treat myself to a scratch card every week and I don’t usually purchase this scratch card. I saw this particular scratch card in the lottery stand in the shop and there it is, all alone – the very last one in its slot. I knew I had to have it,” she laughed.

“It’s just been an incredible couple of days. I had absolutely convinced myself that I’d only won €50,000. I was in so much shock that I missed out on a zero! When I called the National Lottery to see if I was a winner, the chap on the phone told me that I’d won a half million euro. I nearly passed out with the excitement,” added the happy winner.

With her winnings confirmed, she said she’s now going to speak to her bank manager and think carefully about what to do with her new-found fortune before making any big plans.

She continued: “Even now that I have the cheque in front of my eyes, it just doesn’t feel real. I’m going to put the cheque in the bank and take a couple of days to settle my nerves.

“Of course, I have thought about what I want to spend the money on, but I didn’t want to make any plans for fear that I would jinx it.

The winner did confirm that the first thing she will do is pay off her mortgage and also has her eye on a “lovely new car”.

“It will be amazing for me to be mortgage free. I’ll have to have a chat with my bank manager about my plans for the rest of the money but I’m going to treat myself to a lovely new car and have a couple of holidays in the next month or so. It’s all very new and exciting,” she said.