Kathryn Faver, 58, got lucky on the last of the three scratch-off tickets she purchased in September 2022.
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The Santa Rosa Beach resident played the 500X THE CASH scratch-off ticket from Cumberland Farms in Destin, about 100 miles east of Mobile, Alabama, on Florida’s northwestern tip, per the Destin Log.
Faver took her ticket to Florida Lottery officials and decided on the lump sum distribution of $820,000 after taxes.
A few months later, on December 30, Faver paid $400,000 cash for a home and began to move in on the very same day.
The Florida woman did not have homeowners insurance on the property yet, but placed all of her boxes and belongings inside the residence anyways.
After she left to pick up her dog from her mother’s house, police contacted Faver to inform her that her luck had run out.
The new home had caught fire and burned almost completely to the ground.
“I didn’t even get to spend the night in it, not even 10 minutes,” the devastated lottery winner told the publication.
“I was looking for a house and it took me forever. I finally found one and closed on it on Friday [December 30].”
She added: “They had multiple offers on it, but because I had cash they accepted my offer.”
Faver told the publication that Destin was the perfect location due to it being between Fort Walton Beach and Sandestin.
Her mother resides in Sandestin, and her new grandson in Fort Walton Beach.
Faver’s mom also has macular degeneration, requiring that she be around and available to assist with doctor’s visits.
“I have to take her to doctor appointments and wherever she needs to go,” the lottery winner noted.
She explained that the reason she didn’t have homeowner’s insurance was due to a brief sickness a few weeks before purchasing the home.
“It’s personally my stupidity,” she said.
As far as how the fire started, Faver alleged the movers left boxes on the glass-top stove, which somehow switched on.
She claimed the moving company told her they’re “not accepting responsibility” due to a policy that prohibits their workers from putting items on counters in any home.
Destin Fire Battalion Chief Justin Blixton told the Destin Log that they were able to determine that the fire started in the kitchen.
The kitchen was ultimately destroyed along with portions of the living room.
Most of Faver’s belongings were unharmed, but it left the lottery winner in a complicated position either way.
“I have basically maybe $300 to my name right now … because I put everything into it,” she told the publication.
“I don’t know which way to go. I’m completely clueless.”
Faver truly took home only $500,000 from the $1million win after taxes, putting $400,000 into the house, donating $10,000 to a church where one of her sons is a pastor, and used the rest to pay bills.
She also claimed to have given cash to hard-working community members.
“I was just trying to bring a little peace and joy at Christmas. Just trying to do something nice,” she explained.
While she tries to figure out her next steps, it’s unclear if another lottery ticket is in the cards, as she questioned if what happened to her were consequences of winning the game.
“I don’t know … Is it the curse of the lottery?” she asked.
For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage of a woman who won a $188million lottery jackpot and had to use $20million to pay for her fiancé’s actions.
The U.S. Sun also has the story of a lottery winner who won $50,000 thanks to the weather.