Woman's Luck Holds Out With $175,000 Jackpot Prize

Every holiday season at Harmon Dental Center In Louisville, Kentucky, is special because the owner, Dr. Bradley Harmon, has a tradition of taking his workers and their spouses out for a nice dinner. There would be other amazing activities during the beautiful gathering, including a gift exchange. However, in 2022, Dr. Bradley decided to do things differently.

On December 13, 2022, the doctor let his staff members relax. Rather than take everyone out for dinner, which was the tradition, he ordered lunch and had the gift exchange take place at the dental clinic. 

The dental center's employees, including Lori, were on board with the decision. During an interview with Today, the lucky woman recalled going in last to pick a number that determined who got to pick a gift first. So, Lori and 12 other participants picked their numbers and prepared to have lunch, after which the gift exchange was scheduled to begin.

Like various events, the gift exchange had a rule. According to Lori, each gift could only be stolen twice. Then, after the final recipient gets their hands on the present, they could open it to learn the content. So, Lori played along with the rules. Before going for lunch, she chose number four and picked a $50 gift card to TJ Maxx, which she was thrilled about. Unfortunately, the participant who picked number nine stole the gift from her.

Although it was heartbreaking to have her gift stolen, Lori continued with the game. At some point, she also stole a gift from someone else — five scratch-off lottery tickets. During the chat with the outlet, Lori recalled Dr. Bradley's wife informing her that she was the final recipient of the five scratch-off tickets, urging her to scratch them off.

Without hesitation, the lucky woman began hitting on every one of the tickets. Four tickets' rewards totaled $60, but Lori proceeded to the fifth. According to her, it was black and gold and was called "Hit the jackpot." However, Lori also confessed that she could sense it was different because two of the cards' five numbers were two and fourteen — her husband and daughter's birthdays. 

Finally, Lori scratched off the fifth ticket worth $175,000. She was in big shock, and so were her co-workers. Recalling how she felt, Lori told Today, "I swear for that whole week, everytime I talked about it, I was crying. It still didn't seem real."

According to Lori, winning that amount was a one-in-a-million chance.

After getting the big surprise, Lori called her husband on Facetime to inform him. Judging by the look on her face, the man knew something was different about his wife. So without wasting time, Lori dropped the bomb, and her excited colleagues were behind her to help convince her doubting husband.

Lori's co-workers also asked the winner's husband to pick her up from work as she was too shaken to drive. Immediately, he got into the car with the couple's two kids and their dog and picked Lori up from work. Next, they proceeded to the state's lottery office to confirm and claim the prize of over $120,000 after deducting taxes.

During the interview, the woman explained that a large chunk of the money would go to her kids' education. Lori also explained that she would give her children some cash for Christmas and would love to see the looks on their faces. Ultimately, for Lori, the 2022 Christmas was one she and her family would never forget.