A Radford University freshman doesn’t have to worry any more about paying her tuition bills. The Virginia Lottery says Sukanya Patterson of Newport News is a top prize winner in the Weekly Grand scratcher game, taking home the one-time cash option of more than $469,000.
From the Virginia Lottery: Radford University student Sukanya Patterson was about to head home for spring break when she stopped at the 7-Eleven next to campus. While she was there, she bought five Weekly Grand tickets from the Virginia Lottery. Later, when she scratched her tickets, she discovered that one was a top prize winner, worth $1,000 per week for ten years. “I didn’t scream. I just froze,” she said. Ms. Patterson lives in Newport News. She’s a freshman at Radford studying interior design. She had the choice of taking the full prize over ten years or a one-time cash option of $469,820 She chose the cash option. The odds of winning the top prize in Weekly Grand are 1 in 4,222,800. The odds of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 4.6. Those lesser prizes range from $2 to $10,000. She’s the first person to claim the top prize, which means three more remain unclaimed. She said she intends to use her winnings to pay for her education.
