PALMDALE — Carol McCrea was on the phone with her daughter, Tuesday afternoon, when the doorbell camera showed someone with a bouquet of roses at her door.
At first, she figured it was a florist, but a second look revealed helium balloons.
Her thoughts went to the Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol, the team that surprises sweepstakes winners with a giant check of their winnings.
“That couldn’t be,” she thought, immediately dismissing the idea.
However, when she opened the door, it was indeed the Prize Patrol, who had come to present her with her sweepstakes winnings.
McCrea shared her surprise and excitement with her daughter on the phone as she accepted the $46,005 in cash, rather than the Ford Escape Titanium plug-in hybrid car.
“I’m a little shaky, but I’m really happy,” she said.
McCrea said she has been playing the sweepstakes games online for years, but never won anything other than small cash amounts.
“I played so much and I ordered so much, all these years, I thought, ‘Could I ever be a winner?’ ” she said.
A retired grocery store worker, McCrea said she had just recently prayed for such a prize.
“I asked the Lord, ‘I could really use some money right now,’ ” she said.
In the shock of the moment, McCrea couldn’t say how she planned to use her winnings.
Now that she’s won, she has no intention of stopping her nightly games.
“I just play on my phone or my iPad,” McCrea said. “I don’t have a favorite (game); I play them all.”
Publishers Clearing House began in 1953, as a multi-magazine subscription agency, and has grown into an interactive media company, which offers free-to-play sweepstakes, with the winnings presented by the iconic Prize Patrol.
McCrea offered advice to others who play the sweepstakes games: “Keep on playing. You may be next.”
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