GLOUCESTER, Va. — Duane McFarland is a paramedic and a second-generation firefighter. Now, he's also a big lottery winner.
The Gloucester man matched the first five winning numbers in the Virginia Lottery’s Cash4Life drawing on July 13.
He had to choose between receiving $1,000 every week for the rest of his life or a one-time cash option of $1 million. McFarland chose the cash option.
McFarland, who also is a small business owner, said he hopes to save his winnings towards retirement in a few years.
“I’m just in amazement that I won!” McFarland told Virginia Lottery officials. “I had to call my wife into the room to confirm that I was seeing what I was seeing!”
He played the game online at valottery.com. The winning numbers were 6-10-18-41-50, and the Cash Ball number was 2. The only number he missed was the Cash Ball number. He used Easy Pick, which randomly selected the numbers on his ticket for him.
Cash4Life® is played in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. It features a top prize of $1,000 per day for life and a second prize of $1,000 per week for life. Drawings are held nightly at 9 p.m. Each play costs $2. The odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 21.8 million.
