N.C. mother of four hits Powerball jackpot worth $564.1 million

She was one of three winners who will split the prize, including a winner in Puerto Rico, the first player outside the continental United States.

A 26-year-old mother of four — including one with cerebral palsy — has hit the POWERBALL jackpot, a PRIZE worth tens of millions of dollars.

Holmes, who worked at WALMART and McDonalds but quit to take care of her children, was one of three winners of a $564.1 million POWERBALL jackpot, according to a WSOC TV report.

Another winning ticket was sold at a Shell station in Puerto Rico, which would be the first winner outside the continental United States. Another ticket was purchased in Texas, and the winner has not yet come forward.

Marie Holmes, the North Carolina winner, said she had started her shift at the 24-hour station early Thursday when the lottery machine alerted her that the winning ticket had been sold at that location. She said she “couldn’t believe it” according to the report.

The winner will be able to claim their PRIZE on Friday, choosing either a lump sum of $101.6 million or 30 payments over 29 years for the full amount.

Puerto Rico had just begun selling Powerball tickets four months ago, and Antonio Perez Lopez, assistant secretary of the Puerto Rico Lottery, said that they were “beyond thrilled” that a multimillion-dollar winner had happened so soon.

The U.S. Virgin Islands also sells tickets for Powerball, but no one has ever won there.

The Texas Lottery, meanwhile, posted on Twitter that the winning ticket had been sold at an Appletree Food Mart in a town 40 miles north of Dallas.

The Powerball prize had been growing for a while. The last time someone had hit it was back in February, when it grew to $425.3 million.

The jackpot is the third largest in the history of powerball, and the fifth largest prize in United States history. The last time it was this high was in May 2013, when a Florida ticket landed someone $590.5 million.

The record for largest lottery payout happened in a Mega Millions game when people in Kansas, Illinois, and Maryland split a $656 million prize back in 2012.

That same year, state officials altered ticket prices and lowered the odds of winning in order to increase the size of the prize, resulting in massive jackpots that climbed to record levels.

The jackpot will reset to $40 million for the next drawing, which will take place on Saturday.