David Moran has been playing scratch-off games in the New York State Lottery for the past five years, and had been content to walk away with winning around $1,000 – until he hit the mother load.
Moran was on his lunch break near where he works at Montefiore Medical Center, when he stopped into the Monte Deli & Grocery at 83 E. Gun Hill Road to buy two scratch off tickets before going to a sandwich shop next door.
After eating a hero at Blimpe, Moran picked up a coin and scratched the first ticket. It was as if lighting had struck.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Moran, who lives with his wife and baby on Van Cortlandt Park South, said. “I had just finished eating when I scratched the ticket. I went across the street to my job and actually threw up because I was so excited.”
Moran said he had been worried about losing his job in a central supply department at the hospital where he works. He sterilizes medical instruments. He said winning the $1 million jackpot took a load off of his mind.
“I had been afraid to lose my job,” Moran said. “I plan on continuing to work.”
As for his winnings, which will be paid out through a 35-year annuity, Moran said that he has some plans that will make life easier and more comfortable for his immediate family.
“I am now looking into purchasing a house for my mother,” Moran stated. “I am also going to buy my wife a new wedding ring.”
Moran said that his wife Geneivea was down at his job at Montefiore Medical Center, which is just blocks from his home, in a matter of twenty minutes to take the ticket and put it in a safe place. He is now getting calls from relatives he said he didn’t even know existed.
“Winning the lottery is a dramatic change in my life, for good or bad,” Moran said. “It is actually a blessing, but there are things that come along with. I don’t forget where I come from. I have always been a giving person. It is a tremendous blessing.”
As far a playing the lottery, Moran said that he plans on continuing to purchase tickets.
“I am definitely going to continue playing the lottery,” he said.
The New York State Lottery held a special ceremony honoring Moran and another winner from Westchester in a check presentation ceremony at Yonkers Raceway’s Empire City on Tuesday, August 11.
