North Carolina Woman Wins $2 Million Lottery After Buying Wrong Ticket

Maybe it was luck or perhaps it was fate, but one woman in North Carolina is celebrating a huge lottery win after mistakenly buying the wrong ticket, CNN reports.

Elizabeth Johnson, of Lucama, purchased a $3 Powerball Online Play ticket last week but missed the 9:57 p.m. cutoff by about one minute.

She realized her mistake after rushing home Wednesday (May 26) to enter her numbers into that night's game. Fortunately for her, the ticket was good a few days later during Saturday's drawing. Even more, her ticket won her a $2 million prize.

"It was definitely a shock," said Johnson. "When I got the message saying that I had won I thought, 'Well, I didn't even play tonight.'"

Johnson's ticket matched all five numbers in Saturday's drawing, a 1 in 11.6 million chance, according to lottery officials. Her $1 million prize doubled when the 2X multiplier was drawn. After claiming her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, she ended up taking home $1,415,001 after taxes.

So what does she plan to do with her newfound winnings? Aside from buying a house, she and her family have some fun ideas.

"The kids want to go to Disneyland," said Johnson. "We've never been and now we'll get to."

Photo: Getty Images