CLIVE, Iowa — A Des Moines woman is now $250,000 richer after winning the top prize in the Iowa Lottery's "$250,000 Extreme Cash" scratch game.
"It's not something that you think you'll encounter," winner Jennyfer Akers told Iowa Lottery officials, according to a press release. "You kind of always dream about it, and it's never a reality until it becomes a reality. That reality for me was yesterday afternoon, and it's pretty mind-boggling."
Akers, 31, bought a pair of scratch tickets from a self-service kiosk at the Price Chopper on Ingersoll Avenue.
While Akers only won $10 on the first ticket, the second ticket delivered a much bigger payout.
"It's really surreal," she told the lottery. "I had to pinch myself a couple different times. I had to be like, 'Is this real life?'"
Akers plans to use the money to buy a new car, visit her best friend in Florida, take a vacation and, most importantly, spoil her family members.
"I have two nephews on the way, six months apart, so you bet that they are going to be spoiled rotten," she said.
Akers is the 16th and final winner of the "$250,000 Extreme Cash" scratch game.
For more information about Iowa Lottery scratch games, click here.