Clinton Woman Surprised by $30,000 Lottery Win
Kelsey Simmons Claims Top Prize in '$30,000 Crossword' Scratch Game
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CLIVE, Iowa — A Clinton woman says she experienced a whirlwind of emotions after she won a $30,000 lottery prize.
Kelsey Simmons, 42, won the 84th top prize in the Iowa Lottery's "$30,000 Crossword" scratch game. She bought her winning ticket at Express Lane, 500 N. Second St. in Clinton, and scratched it at home – leading to a look of concern from her fiancé.
"He was sitting on the couch next to me and I almost fell off of it," Simmons recalled with a laugh on Thursday as she claimed her prize at the lottery's Cedar Rapids regional office. "He was like, 'Are you OK?' I was like, 'No — I don't know! We need to go back over to the gas station.'"
They rushed back to the store and verified the win by having an employee scan the ticket on the store's lottery terminal.
"I was so excited," Simmons said. "I was like, 'Don't pass out!'"
Simmons, who works for a document processing company, said she plans to save her winnings for a down payment on a home.
The $30,000 Crossword game is a $3 scratch game that features 151 top prizes of $30,000 and overall odds of 1 in 3.52. For more information about this game, and the number of prizes still available, visit ialottery.com.
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