The first thing winner did after picking up $1M
What's the first thing Linda Windey did after picking up her ceremonial $1 million lottery check?
She stopped at a blood drive.
Others in Windey's position might have been making extravagant dreams a reality.
She stopped at a Red Cross Bloodmobile that was parked in front of Kentucky Lottery headquarters on Main Street in Louisville, took a needle to the arm and gave blood.
Why?
"It just made sense. I had a million dollars fall out of the sky," said Windey of Clermont County, who bought her winning ticket at Cincinnati South Travel Center on Richmond Road in Walton.
The single mother of three children ages 10 to 17, was one of three from Kentucky to come away with $1 million – the second-tier prize – for matching the five white balls but not the red Powerball in the Wednesday evening drawing that offered an unprecedented jackpot of nearly $1.6 billion. Winning tickets worth $1 million were also sold in Ohio and Indiana. A Goshen woman also won that sum in a Saturday drawing.
Windey matched the five white balls, but her winning ticket incorrectly had 26 as the Powerball. The magic combination was 4, 8, 19, 27, 34 and Powerball 10.
Windey has no grand designs for spending the money she won, and she doesn't plan to stop working.
Rather, she wants to spend wisely and provide for her children.
"It's the wrong time to be irresponsible," said Windey, who drove her family to Louisville on Thursday to claim the prize.
Windey, 41, of Parish, New York, was living with her brother in Bethel so she could work a temporary job at the eBay distribution center in Walton. She has worked as a nurse in the past.
She said during a 10 a.m. news conference she's had financial struggles.
"I'm just thinking I can take better care of my kids now," said Windey, a longtime lottery player.
Windey bought her winning ticket at the the Cincinnati South Travel Center on Richmond Road in Walton. The store will get a $10,000 bonus from the Kentucky Lottery for selling the ticket, said lottery spokesman Chip Polston.
Winners in 3 states to split record $1.6B Powerball jackpot
Windey's 17-year-old son, Edward Blunt, said his mother had played the lottery for as long as he could remember, but never won more than $20 on a single ticket.
The idea of winning became a running joke between him and his mom, Edward said.
Given that, when Windey woke Edward about 2:30 a.m. Thursday with the news of their bounty, he wasn't buying it. It had to be a continuation of the old joke, he said.
"I just went back to bed," said Edward. "I didn't believe it."
Windey didn't believe it either at first.
"I checked the numbers six or seven times," Windey said. "I thought I entered the numbers in wrong."
The Wednesday Powerball lottery drawing saw jackpot-winning tickets sold in California, Florida and Tennessee.
Meanwhile, Goshen Township resident Victoria Shoopman has claimed a $1 million prize from the Saturday Powerball drawing.
Shoopman takes $710,000 after taxes, and told Powerball officials she plans to become a homeowner.
Shoopman's daughter, Stacy, purchased the winning ticket at Smokes and Things at 6725 A. Dickflynn Blvd. in Goshen. The retailer receives a $1,000 bonus for selling the winning "5-of-5" ticket.
Another "5-of-5" ticket from the Jan. 9 drawing was sold in Milford at a Speedway on Ohio 131, according to the Powerball website. The holder of that ticket ticket hasn't come forward.
Louisville Courier-Journal reporter Sheldon S. Shafer contributed.