When Gloria C. MacKenzie went to a Zepyhrills Publix last month to buy a Powerball ticket, another person in line did something nice for the 84-year-old widow.
"While in line at Publix, another lottery player was kind enough to let me go ahead of them in line to purchase the winning Quick Pick ticket," MacKenzie said in a statement Wednesday.
The nice gesture turned out to be a life-changing one for MacKenzie and her family. She came forward Wednesday to claim the biggest undivided lottery jackpot in history, $590 million.
The lottery player in front of MacKenzie turned out to be Mindy Crandell, 34, also a Zephyrhills resident.
McKenzie is a retiree from Maine and a mother of four who lives in a modest duplex in Zephyrhills, where the lone winning ticket in the May 18 drawing was sold. She took her prize in a lump sum of just over $370 million. After federal taxes, she is getting about $278 million, lottery officials said.
Wearing large sunglasses and dressed in a pink sweater and white pants, she clasped her son's arm after visiting the lottery offices as they made their way to a silver Ford Focus and left quickly Wednesday. She did not speak to a crowd of reporters outside the building. She was accompanied at the lottery offices by two unidentified attorneys.
Crandell remembered the exchange in line when a friend texted her McKenzie's photo Wednesday.
"'My daughter said, 'Mom, look, it's the lady that went in front of us,'" said Crandell.
Since the discovery, multiple media outlets have interviewed Crandall and her daughter. Some reporters have asked if she regrets letting MacKenzie go ahead of her.
Crandall said no, adding that she hopes the 84-year-old woman and her family are "blessed" with their good fortune.