Paula Penn (Credit: Arkansas Scholarship Lottery)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - An Arkansas woman nearly lost out on a lottery prize after she almost gifted the winning ticket to her ex-father-in-law.
Paula Penn of Texarkana said she was stunned when she won $75,000 from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery earlier this month.
She had won on the $3 $75,000 Jewels instant ticket.
Penn said she had bought some scratch-off tickets for her ex-father-in law as a birthday gift. But she kept one ticket to herself because she realized all the purchased tickets would not fit in his birthday envelope.
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"That ticket really stood out to me because of the diamonds on it," Penn said in a news release. "I love diamond mining in my spare time."
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Penn was at work when she discovered that she was the winner.
"I asked my boss and co-workers to confirm the win, and the owner gave me permission to leave for the day to come to Little Rock to redeem my prize," Penn added.
"My ex-father-in-law is definitely going to get a kick out of this story," she continued.
Penn said she plans to pay off her debt and take a vacation later this year with her winnings.
"I can also quit my second job as an Uber driver," she added.
This story was reported from Los Angeles.