Woman with injured leg was running seconds after winning huge NC lottery jackpot

The North Carolina Education lottery performed something of a miracle when a woman with an injured leg suddenly began running just seconds after learning she won a six-figure prize.

Marcella Hooker of Duplin County says her trouble walking is due to a recent leg injury, but that disability was quickly forgotten soon after she invested $5 in an digital online game called The Lamp: Dark Arts.

She won the “Alakazam” jackpot, which was worth $912,326.40, lottery officials said in a news release.

“After I saw that I took off running and screaming,” Hooker told lottery officials. “I was screaming so much it woke up the kids and grandkids.”

Odds of winning the “Alakazam” prize are 1 in 12.9 million, lottery officials said.

Hooker traveled from her home in Warsaw about 70 miles northwest to the lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday, June 9, to get her prize. It came to $654,596 after state and federal withholdings, officials said.

“Now we can pay off the house,” Hooker told lottery officials.

Then, she’ll go shopping for a new car, she said.

Online plays in The Lamp: Dark Arts range from 50 cents to $30. After Hooker won, the game restarted with a $100,000 jackpot that will keep growing until someone else wins.

This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 8:11 AM with the headline "Woman with injured leg was running seconds after winning huge NC lottery jackpot."