PINSONFORK, Ky. — A Pike County coal miner has more than 176,000 reasons to be thankful this holiday, after winning a jackpot in a Kentucky Lottery online game.
Barry Jewell, a father of five from Pinsonfork, wagered $2 on the Bank Buster Jackpot Instant Game at kentuckylottery.com last Thursday, when he got a notice he scored a big win.
“I sat my phone down when the next thing I saw on the screen was ‘Jackpot Winner $176,496.37,'” Jewell said. “I took a screen shot because I didn’t believe it.
“Once I got the email from the lottery, it seemed real.”
Jewell’s wife, Paige, was getting her hair done when she saw that her husband was Facetiming her.
“I answered the phone and before I could say anything, he said, ‘I need you to go somewhere private,’” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on. When he told me what he had won, I was in shock. It was surreal.”
When the Pike County couple drove to lottery headquarters the next day, the first thing Barry told officials was he hadn’t slept at all that night. After receiving a check for $125,312.42, after taxes, he said he felt relieved.
“We didn’t win enough to change the world, but we have enough to take away the stress,” Barry said.
The couple said they haven’t had time to process winning the lottery but do plan to pay off bills.
“We couldn’t have been blessed at a better time,” Jewell said.
