Lottery winner wants to keep life-changing ticket safe — so she sleeps on top of it

A lottery winner wanted to keep her $1 million ticket safe — so she slept on top of it.

“We hid it under our mattress,” prize winner Arely Mayorga Martinez told the North Carolina Education Lottery.

After making sure nothing happened to her life-changing ticket, Martinez claimed her prize. She chose to take the winnings in a lump sum of $600,000, and now her dream of buying a new home can become a reality.

“We are so happy,” the Charlotte woman told lottery officials in a Sept. 6 news release.

Martinez hit the jackpot after her husband bought her the winning ticket. He was at a BP gas station on Steele Creek Road in Charlotte when he played the Multiplier Mania scratch-off game, according to officials.

When Martinez first discovered how much the $10 ticket was worth, she was in disbelief.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.

Martinez, who kept $429,003 after taxes, isn’t the first lottery winner to stash their ticket for safekeeping. Another North Carolina player stored his lucky ticket in his microwave, The Charlotte Observer reported in August.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

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