Greensboro Reporter

Sometimes an impulse purchase actually pays off.

That was certainly the case for Katie Knighten, who bought a Fast Play lottery ticket on a hunch and won more than $143,000.

"I was feeling off that day and, to be honest, I don't really know why I bought it. Something told me to buy it,” Knighten told a local WFMY News 2. “Whenever I did the bingo thing. I scanned it and it said to go to the lottery place. I (was) expecting maybe $1,000. Then I looked at it and it said the jackpot and I called my mama, and I said 'I think I won the jackpot'.” 

She bought her winning $5 Safari Bingo ticket at the Quick & Easy store where she works in Greensboro.

She attributes her luck to her late father, who passed away in August.

"We felt like it was a blessing from him,” Knighten told WFMY News 2. “He was the sole provider for my mom. So now I'm buying us a property and house so that way my kids and my mother will always be taken care of."

With Fast Play, a jackpot win could happen instantly. The Fast Play rolling jackpot grows with every ticket purchased. When Knighten bought her Safari Bingo ticket, the pot had just reached $286,474. Because she bought a $5 ticket, she won 50% of the jackpot.

She told the North Carolina Education Lottery that she has already bought a new vehicle and that she’d like to buy the home she has been renting. Otherwise, she doesn’t expect any major life changes.

"I will continue working,” she said. “I will continue living my life the way I've been living it. My main thing is to be able to make sure my kids and my mother (are) taken care of."