Florida widow Gloria MacKenzie, 84, is sole winner of US$590m Powerball lottery
Woman, 84, claims sole winning lottery ticket after stranger let her get ahead in queue
An 84-year-old American widow who bought her Powerball lottery ticket after another customer let her get ahead in line has claimed the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history: US$590 million.
Gloria MacKenzie, a retiree from the US state of Maine and a mother of four, lives in a modest, tin-roof house in Zephyrhills, in the state of Florida. Her husband Ralph died in 2005.
MacKenzie bought the winning ticket at a supermarket in the town of 13,300 on May 18. She had 60 days to claim her prize.
She took her prize in a lump sum of just over US$370 million. After federal taxes, she is getting about US$278 million, lottery officials said.
MacKenzie did not speak to reporters outside lottery headquarters on Wednesday, and left quickly with her son and family friends. She was accompanied by two unidentified lawyers.
The US$590 million was the second-largest lottery jackpot, behind a US$656 million Mega Millions prize in March 2012 that was split among three winners.