The winner of last Friday's $54-million lottery made the luckiest mistake of her life.
Garina Fearon, 34, wanted to play "Powerball" but purchased a Mega-million dollar ticket instead last week.
"She made a mistake," said Claudio Guzman, the clerk at the small bodega where Fearon bought the winning ticket -- about a block from her East New York apartment.
The single mom, a jail guard on Rikers Island, credits the Corrections Department job with saving her from financial ruin, according to the New York Post.
"I wanted a better life. I was struggling as a single parent," Fearon told the paper. "I've really come back from nothing."
She has endured both homelessness and bankruptcy in the past. and at one point claims she had only $25 to her name.
Fearon will now have about $30 million before taxes since she has indicated she has decided to take the lump sum winnings.
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The new multi-millionaire says she plans to buy a house for her mother, who has diabetes, in her Jamaican homeland, but is uncertain about other expenditures from her new windfall.
"I like her," said Guzman. "I'm glad for her."
