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R2bn lotto winner 'to live happy'
27/02/2008 07:15 - (SA)
Atlanta - When asked what he plans to do as a brand new multimillionaire, US lottery winner Robert Harris answered simply: "Live happy."
The 47-year-old iron worker won Friday's $275m (R2bn) Mega Millions jackpot - the largest prize won by a single player in Georgia Lottery history.
He used to work overtime just to make ends meet for 20 years. He and his wife, Tonya, lived in a trailer while dreaming of building a big house in the country where their two children and six grandchildren could visit.
Now that's all in the past.
They now plan to build that dream house, pay for their grandchildren's college education and shower their family with presents.
"They'll get anything they want," Robert Harris told a crowd of reporters gathered at the lottery's downtown Atlanta headquarters Monday afternoon.
The couple bought two $1 tickets in Portal, the town of 600 where they live.
They didn't even watch the Mega Millions draw, thinking there was no chance they'd win the lottery. Tonya Harris' daughter, Felicia, delivered the good news with a phone call late on Friday.
First thing on Saturday, Robert Harris let his boss know he wouldn't be coming back to work.
"It's very easy to walk away," he said.
But Tonya Harris said the money doesn't mean they'll stop being the simple folks they've always been.
"We're not gonna change," she said, wearing warm-up pants and flip-flops. "I'm too country."
The couple will receive $167m before taxes after deciding to take a lump sum rather than get the full amount paid over a number of years.
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