$1M Powerball ticket makes for unforgettable birthday for Johnston County woman

BENSON, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Johnston County woman celebrated her 58th birthday by winning a $1 million Powerball drawing.

"I won't forget this birthday, that's for sure," Leslie Husted of Benson said.

Husted was watching the news when she heard about an unclaimed $1 million Powerball ticket sold in her town. She said she immediately got a funny feeling that she was the owner of that winning ticket.

"When they said, 'Nobody has come forward yet,' I started shaking," she recalled.

So before even checking her ticket, she called her husband and told him that she thought they had won the lottery. As it turns out, she was right!

The $2 ticket she bought at the Murphy Express on NC-42 for the Feb. 20 drawing matched all five white balls in the drawing.

"I went to go check the ticket and then I just started screaming," Husted said.

The Husteds took home $712,501 after taxes.

They said they plan to save the winnings for their retirement.