Michael Hernandez
24 August 2017•Update: 24 August 2017
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON
A Massachusetts woman on Thursday laid claim to the largest Powerball lottery jackpot by a single person, state officials said.
Massachusetts lottery officials confirmed the lucky winner is Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old hospital worker.
"This was a chance, a chance I had to take," she said at a press conference.
Wancyzk said she called her employer "and told them I will not be coming back".
The $758.7 million winning ticket was purchased at a gas station in Chicopee, the lottery said in a statement. A separate $1 million winning ticket was purchased across the state in Watertown, outside of Boston.
Wanczyk faced extremely long odds to claim the prize. The game calculates the chance of winning at one in 292,201,338.00.
Her win Wednesday night ended a two-month drought without a jackpot winner that swelled the prize the second-largest in the game’s history.
The largest jackpot ever was won in 2016 when three people claimed a $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot.
Wancyzk's full prize would have been paid out over 29 years, but she instead chose to receive a single lump sum of $480 million.
About 40 percent of the winnings will go to the federal government. Massachusetts assesses a separate 5 percent tax on winnings, according to usamega.com, a website that tracks lottery news.
