$9M lotto ticket saves woman from foreclosure

As the Bible says: “Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

Gloria Aguda of Fountain said she prayed to God for help, facing foreclosure and mounting bills.

The laid-off, single mother won the jackpot in the Nov. 21 Lotto drawing, worth approximately $9 million.

“My heart was pounding too bad,” Aguda was quoted in a Colorado Lottery news release Monday. Aguda did not return calls from The Gazette.

Aguda’s was the only ticket to match all six numbers — 9, 15, 23, 24, 35, 41. The Colorado Lottery said it was purchased at the Safeway at 6925 Mesa Ridge Parkway in Fountain. The store will receive a $5,000 payment for selling the winning ticket.

The Colorado Lottery said 17,183 people won at least $3 in the drawing.

Since Aguda was laid off two years ago, she has been working only one day a week at the commissary at Fort Carson while studying to become a medical assistant. The mother of two grown sons said she was running into financial difficulty.

“My kids have worked so hard to save the house,” said Aguda, who plans to pay off the mortgage, other bills and her sons’ college loans with the $4.5 million lump-sum payout. After taxes, she’ll have about $3.2 million.

Aguda said she’ll also use the money to help her brother, who lives in her native Philippines, and travel to Honolulu for a surprise trip to visit family.

Aguda’s own schooling, however, may have to wait until she gets her finances squared away.

“I am supposed to have a test this afternoon,” she said in the release. “But I can’t even sleep since I found out I was a winner. I keep asking God to help me concentrate so I can take the test.”