Placentia couple wins Set for Life
Jackpot comes amidst birthday celebration
A Placentia couple has a lot to celebrate, even after a birthday.
Wanda and Craig Brooks were celebrating her 44th birthday as any couple might — with family and friends over a nice supper.
Inside a birthday card given to Wanda by her brother, however, sat a scratch ticket that would substantially change their lives.
It was a Set for Life winner. “I was just sat at the table and had the chance, so I figured I might as well scratch it now,” said Wanda, adding that she purchases only a few tickets occasionally for her and her husband. “And when I looked at it, it looked like I won, but I didn’t believe it. I must have flipped it over four or five times to read the rules before I said anything to anyone.”
To her delight, she was right. The ticket was a winner. From there, she and the family wasted no time getting to a local convenience store to get the ticket checked.
An event to celebrate the couple’s luck was held at the Three Sisters Restaurant in Placentia Thursday, where family and friends joined to help commemorate the moment for the couple.
Wanda and Craig decided
to go with the lump sum of $675,000, which will be used to pay off some debts and help the family live a more comfortable life in the coming years.
“It just seemed to make more sense for us to go with the lump sum,” Craig said. “We don’t have any big plans for it, just to pay off a few things here and there, and keep living the way we are, really.”
Wanda works as a hairdresser, while Craig is a property manager. Despite the major monetary boost, neither of them have any plans
to retire any time soon, calling themselves a fairly average family with no plans to change that.
“We still want to live the same lives as we have before. This is just going to help us do that a lot more comfortably,” said Wanda. “It feels amazing to win this. It’s indescribable, really, but we’re not going to let it change us like that.”
As for Wanda’s brother, RNC Const. Geoff Higdon, he won’t be leaving the experience empty handed, either. Wanda and Craig decided to hand over
$100,000 to him and his family.
“This is going to change our lives, and I want to see it change theirs as well. It makes me happy to see them happy,” Wanda added.
New Set for Life tickets are currently making their way to stores from the Atlantic Lottery Corp., with four top prizes to claim.
Wanda and Craig both plan to keep riding their luck and will continue purchasing tickets in the future, just in case.