Florida woman wins $2M lottery scratch-off prize day after daughter beats cancer

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida woman’s persistence and her daughter’s courage created an unbeatable combination.

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Geraldine Gimblet, of Lakeland, won a $2 million top prize in the Florida Lottery’s Bonus Cashword scratch-off game, lottery officials said in a news release on Friday.

Gimblet said the clerk at the Pipkin Road Beverage Castle in Lakeland where she bought the winning $10 scratch-off believed there were no more of her favorite game.

But persistence paid off.

“At first the gas station clerk thought there were no tickets left, but I asked him to double check because I like the crossword games the best,” Gimblet told lottery officials. “He found the last one!”

Gimblet will take a lump-sum payment of $1.645 million, lottery officials said.

Her daughter had an even bigger smile. She had just beaten breast cancer, according to the news release.

“The day before my mom bought this ticket, I rang the bell and walked out of the hospital after completing my last treatment for breast cancer,” the woman, who was not identified in the release, told lottery officials. “My mom had taken out her life savings to take care of me when I was sick. I’m just so happy for her!”

The gas station will receive a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning scratch-off ticket, lottery officials said.