Fayetteville woman with flat tire on 'bad day' wins $100,000 lottery prize

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Sometimes a bad day isn't as rotten as it seems. A Fayetteville woman stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire found that out, much to her delight.

"I was having a really, really bad day," Tamara Ortiz said. "I had a friend come get me and he had to put on his hotspot for me to use my phone and I said, 'Well, let me just check my emails and my stuff real quick.'"

Sitting roadside, Ortiz checked her email and discovered that she was the winner of a $100,000 lottery prize.

"I looked at it and I dropped my phone," she told the NC Education Lottery when she claimed her prize. "I was like, 'I don't know if this is real!'"

Ortiz's entry was one of 10,906,000 entries in the third Multiply the Cash second-chance drawing on Sept. 9.

She said she is now a firm believer in second chances.

"I believe in second chances," said Ortiz. "And now I'm an even bigger believer in second chances! I just think that it is a great opportunity."

Ortiz, who works as a manager at a convenience store, claimed her prize on Tuesday and went home with $70,750 after required federal and state tax withholdings.

As for her old car and that flat tire? Ortiz said she plans on buying some "reliable transportation."

She's eyeing a Honda Accord.