Dana Walsh of Clinton, Oneida County was out running routine errands at the Kinney Drugs at 12 Franklin Avenue when she decided to buy two Lottery scratch-off tickets. Later in the day she scratched the tickets and the $2,500 a Week for Life ticket she purchased contained the jackpot winning combination earning her and her husband Robert a $2.5 million payday.

“I was out running my usual errands and bought the ticket at Kinney Drugs,” explained Walsh. “I put the tickets in my purse and continued my day.”

It was at her second stop that she decided to scratch the tickets.

“I was sitting in the parking lot of the Dollar General and remembered the tickets in my purse. I scratched them and when I saw the matching 11s on the win for life ticket I knew I had won a prize. When I saw the word ‘life’ underneath, I was in shock. I kept looking around for the cameras because I thought it was a joke.”

Walsh drove back to Kinney Drugs and scanned the ticket to make sure it was real.

“Not only did I scan it at Kinney Drugs, I took it to another store and scanned it twice to be sure! Every time I scanned the ticket it said ‘big winner’ so I knew it must be real.”

Walsh finally called her husband, Robert, who was in Florida at the time.

“I called Bob four times before he got around to calling me back. At first he thought something was wrong, but when I told him the news he was a little hesitant to believe me. It wasn’t until he got home about a week later that it really sank in,” said Walsh.

The Walsh’s opted to split their prize and chose the lump-sum payment option. Each will receive a net check totaling $659,061 after required withholdings.

“This is all still very unreal for both of us,” said Walsh. “Our initial plans for the money are to pay off our mortgage and our son’s student loans. After that, we’ll all get new cars.”

The New York Lottery contributed $54,192,629 in Lottery Aid to Education to school districts in Oneida County during fiscal year 2015-2016.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.30 billion in fiscal year 2015-2016 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 14 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.

New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.