Iowa – So far in 2022, he’s survived a heart attack and another major health scare, and now, he’s won a $1 million Powerball® prize. So, does Daryl Ingram of Mapleton consider himself lucky?
“Unlucky or lucky, one of the two, I don’t know!” Ingram said as he claimed his $1 million prize Thursday at Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive.
Ingram, 62, who is retired from trucking and still works in farming, said his lottery luck started when he won $11 in last Saturday’s Powerball drawing. He used some of his winnings from that night to buy plays for the game’s drawing on Monday. One of those easy-pick plays won $1 million.
Ingram said he popped awake in the early hours on Tuesday and something told him to check his Powerball ticket. In the process, he misread one of the numbers and thought he only won $100. Was he excited about that?
“Yeah, it’s better than nothing, you know,” he said.
But when he went to the local convenience store where he bought his ticket to have it checked, the store clerk told him he’d actually won $1 million.
“I was pumped up a little bit,” Ingram said. “But she was more excited than me, I think. She said, ‘It’s you! It’s you! It’s you!’”
Word spread quickly in his small community and far beyond. Ingram laughed as he recalled that he got a congratulatory call from a friend in Omaha, Neb., within 15 minutes.
Ingram’s first call was to his girlfriend, Joan Ford. She was with him as he claimed his prize but admits she didn’t believe him at first.
“I thought he was just messing with me,” she said with a laugh. “Because he does that kind of stuff.”
It turns out, he was not messing with her. Ingram said he plans to use his winnings to pay off his home, invest for the future, and likely take another trip with Joan. They enjoy travel and said they take several trips each year.
Ingram bought his winning Powerball ticket at KCK’s Food and Fuel, a convenience store at 503 Iowa Highway 175 in Danbury, a community of about 320 in Woodbury County. His ticket came within one number of having at least a share of Monday’s $485 million jackpot.
Ingram’s ticket matched the first five numbers but missed the Powerball to win a $1 million prize. Monday’s winning numbers were: 19-30-36-46-60 and Powerball 25. The Power Play® number was 3.
KCK’s Food and Fuel will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the $1 million-winning ticket.