Powerball Winner: 'Think I'm Having a Heart Attack'

Mark and Cindy Hill are the lucky ones
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 30, 2012 10:12 AM CST
Updated Nov 30, 2012 1:36 PM CST
Powerball Winner: 'I Think I'm Having a Heart Attack'
Mark and Cindy Hill hold a Powerball check with their three of their four children, Jarod, left, Cody and six-year-old Jaiden in Dearborn, Mo., Friday, Nov. 30, 2012.   (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

One of the two winners of the $587.5 million Powerball jackpot has been identified: Missourians Cindy and Mark Hill, reports NBC News. "I think I'm having a heart attack," Cindy, a laid-off office manager, told her 52-year-old husband after checking the numbers yesterday morning. She then drove to the home of her mother-in-law, who verified the numbers were, indeed, the lucky ones. Mark, who works at a meat processing plant, met her there. "You know it's the Show Me State, so he said, 'Show me,'" says Cindy. The winning ticket was among five the couple bought at a Dearborn Trex Mart convenience store.

The small town of Dearborn was identified yesterday as home to one of the winners, and with a population of just 496, there weren't that many people it could be. The Hills are reportedly high-school sweethearts, with three grown children and an adopted 6-year-old. “Just an all-around good guy,’’ a former high school classmate told News Today of Mark. The AP reports that the Hills opted to take the lump sum: about $136.5 million after taxes. They're now considering a second adoption with their winnings; they also plan to pay for college for a number of family members and take some vacations. Their 6-year-old has apparently requested a pony. For his part, Mark is eying a red Camaro. (More Powerball stories.)

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