‘Less worries’: Single mom wins $1 million after trip to store to buy thermometer for sick son

LATROBE, Pa. (Gray News) – A single mom in Pennsylvania won $1 million, thanks to a quick stop at the store to buy a thermometer for her sick son.

According to a news release from the Pennsylvania Lottery, certified nursing assistant Diane Babbin won the big prize April 28.

That day, Babbin said her teenage son was sick with a fever, so Babbin asked her mother to go to Shop ‘n Save in Latrobe to pick up a thermometer and a scratch-off ticket.

Babbin and her two teenagers live with her parents.

Babbin said she and her mother always play scratch-offs together.

Diane Babbin poses with her mom on May 24 after winning $1 million.(Pennsylvania Lottery)

“My mom ended up scratching the ticket in the car and called me saying, ‘You have to come get me. I can’t drive home.’ I said, ‘What’s wrong?’ She’s a senior, and she was in shock!” Babbin said.

After scratching the ticket, Babbin’s mother saw they had won $1 million.

“My mom apologized that she scratched the ticket without me because we usually scratch them together. When I got there, I asked her about the thermometer, and she was in such shock that she forgot to buy it,” Babbin said.

Babbin collected her prize on May 24. The Shop n’ Save store that sold the winning ticket also received a $5,000 bonus.

Babbin told lottery officials she plans to likely buy a home with the winnings, but for now, “it just means less worries.”