It was all in the numbers for Manuel Moreira who now has one less thing to worry about.
Moreira, a hotel union worker from Briarwood who always uses his and his family’s birthdays to pick numbers for the New York Lottery, claimed the top prize from the Cash4Life drawing that was announced on Aug. 17.
Moreira, who takes a chance on the game frequently, stopped at Concord Drug at 84th Road in Briarwood after work on Aug. 17 to purchase his tickets. However, he didn’t check his numbers until the next morning on the lottery’s website.
“I didn’t believe what I was seeing. I was in a panic. I woke up my wife, and she saw how panicked I was and thought someone had broken into our house,” Moreira said in a statement.
Moreira plans to use his money to take care of his children, grandchildren and family, and possibly start looking for a new house. He chose to receive his prize as a one-time lump sum which nets him $4,361,280.
“At first, I really didn’t believe that I had won $7,000,000. But then when I got to the lottery office and they verified it for me, it started to sink in,” Moreira said. “I’m really still in shock. This really is a dream come true.”
