Newton, Iowa, retiree Reggie Blumeyer won $50,000 and left his wife worried when he gasped after seeing the result. The couple plans to buy a new pickup truck.
Reggie Blumeyer of Newton, Iowa, was so shocked when he discovered his $50,000 prize that his wife initially thought something was seriously wrong.
Blumeyer checked his ticket the morning after the drawing using the Iowa Lottery mobile app. He and his wife, Lorie, had just returned from a bike ride when he looked at the result.
“I looked at my wife and gasped,” Blumeyer said while claiming his prize at the Iowa Lottery’s main office in Clive. “My wife said she thought I was having a heart attack or something. That’s pretty much what it was: shock.”
Blumeyer had won $50,000 in Saturday’s drawing after matching four of the five white balls and the Powerball. He had purchased the Easy Pick ticket at Hy-Vee Fast & Fresh on First Avenue East in Newton, using winnings from another ticket to pay for the purchase.
The initial reaction was followed by another moment of disbelief when Blumeyer tried to tell his wife what had happened.
“She said no, so I had to clear it out and do it over and prove to her that it was,” he said. “And then I told her to pinch me because I couldn’t believe that I was awake.”
Blumeyer and his wife both retired in May, giving the unexpected $50,000 prize an especially practical purpose. The couple plans to put the winnings towards a new pickup truck.
For Blumeyer, what started as a routine ticket check after a bike ride ended with a $50,000 surprise and a reaction dramatic enough to make his wife think he was having a medical emergency.
