The 53-year-old hospital worker from Massachusetts who won yesterday’s $758.7 million Powerball jackpot barely wasted any time before quitting her day job.
Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Mass has 32 years of employment at Mercy Medical Center under her belt, and said it was her dream to retire early, the Washington Post reports. So after she realized she won the jackpot—the largest single-ticket lottery payout ever in the U.S.—on Wednesday night, she informed her boss that she wouldn’t be returning.
“I had a pipe dream, and my pipe dream finally came true,” she said at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, according to the Post.
Wanczyk found out that she won when she was leaving work with a firefighter and talked with him about the jackpot, the AP reports. After the life-changing revelation, the firefighter made sure Wanczyk got back to her house safe and sound.
The newly-made millionaire took the lump sum payout rather than the annuity payments. She has two adult children and said she is excited to “be alone and just be able to be me,” the Post reports.
