Life-changing lottery win for McDonald's manager and nurse practitioner

Includes video report

By Kate Northrop

WIND GAP, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Lottery awarded the state's first-ever $7 million Cash4Life top prize to a hardworking couple — a McDonald's manager and nurse practitioner — whose lives will tremendously change for the better thanks to the win.

A Pennsylvania couple laid out several productive ways to use their "historic" prize, the first Cash4Life top prize of $7 million won in the state.

On Friday, Jan. 3, Shana Juhasz paid a visit to the GIANT food store on Male Road in Wind Gap to buy her daughter some ice cream sandwiches and donuts. During the shopping trip, she decided to go with a "random" lottery purchase, as opposed to sticking with her usual play habit.

"She normally buys a Powerball and Mega Millions ticket, and sometimes she'll buy a random ticket," Shana's husband, Stephen Juhasz III told the Pennsylvania Lottery. "This time, she randomly bought Cash4Life. She chose the numbers using Quick Pick."

That night, the Cash4Life drawing came and went, and the surprise was sweeter than any ice cream or donuts Shana could buy.

She called her husband, a General Manager at McDonald's, who was already at work for the day.

"I told her to scan the ticket on the PA Lottery app," Stephen recalled. "As she's reading the results to me, I said, 'Can you read them to me again?' As she's reading, I screamed and ran out of work. I called my boss and told him I had to leave."

Shana's Cash4Life ticket had matched all five white ball numbers — 12, 25, 28, 47, and 55 — plus the Cash Ball number 1 to win the game's top prize of $1,000 a day for life, or rather $7 million.

The couple brainstormed several ways to put the winnings to good use. Any of their proposed options were viable — this money is no doubt a life-changing sum of money.

"My wife is going to school to become a nurse practitioner, so this will help pay off her loan," Stephen explained. "I'll pay off my student loan, we'll save some money and invest, and we'll take the kids to Disney!"

While Stephen said he's not ready to quit his job just yet, this prize does grant him a precious educational opportunity to further his career.

"I work at McDonald's, and I'm going to go back to school and learn something about finance," he continued. "As soon as this is over, I've got to go back to work."

That's not all — the lump sum lottery prize will vastly improve the couple's family life, which includes caring for three children aged 10, 9, and 2. With the winnings, the parents will be able to buy a house and set their children up for college, in addition to the exciting Disney vacation that has just always been out of reach.

"I've always dreamed of taking them to Disney," Shana said while receiving a ceremonial check. "We're just so grateful and so happy."

This was the first time a Cash4Life top prize was sold in Pennsylvania since the game became available in the state in April 2015. Lottery officials, including Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne, presented the Juhasz couple with the ceremonial check at the GIANT food store that sold the winning ticket.

"We are thrilled that this historic win in Pennsylvania is delivering a life-changing prize to Stephen, Shana, and their family," Browne said. "We also want to recognize our retailer partner, GIANT Food Stores, for selling this ticket. Thanks to our dedicated players and retailers, the Pennsylvania Lottery continues to generate funds for critical programs and services that benefit older Pennsylvanians all across the Commonwealth."

The Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, Drew Svitko even offered some warm remarks to the winning couple.

"On behalf of the Lottery, I'd like to also extend my congratulations to Stephen, Shana, and their family for winning this historic prize," Svitko said in a statement. "We always say that it only takes one ticket to win big, and we're very excited to see that proven true for a family from right here in Pennsylvania."

Shana and Stephen beat the odds of 1 in 21,846,048 to win the Cash4Life top prize. Although this is Pennsylvania's first top prize win for the game, the Lottery has awarded 17 second-tier prizes of $1,000 a week for life, or $1 million, to other Pennsylvania players.

The game has generated more than $250 million in sales and $92 million in profit to benefit older Pennsylvanians, according to the Lottery, and players have won nearly $98 million playing Cash4Life.

Cash4Life is played by selecting five numbers from a pool of 1 to 60 as well as one Cash Ball number ranging from 1 to 4. Matching all six numbers will win a player $1,000 a day for life, while matching the first five numbers without the Cash Ball number will win the second-tier prize of $1,000 a week for life. The game offers other prizes of one-time payments ranging from $2 to $2,500.

Cash4Life is currently offered for sale in ten states including Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Drawings are conducted every night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time in New Jersey via mechanical ball drawing machines. Tickets cost $2 each.

VIDEO: See the happy winners

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