A Filipina mother of two scooped half a million dirhams ($136,147) in the latest Mahzooz draw and dedicated the win to her late son.
Cathrine Fallorina, who lives in Sharjah and takes home Dh3,500 a month as a receptionist, bought the winning ticket on March 8, the anniversary of her infant’s death.
Five days later, she watched in amazement as five of her six numbers were called out. She was one of two people to share the second prize.
“At first, I couldn’t believe it,” said Ms Fallorina, 38.
“That day, I had just returned home from getting a PCR test. It was about 10pm and I remembered about the Mahzooz draw.
“I immediately logged in to my account and to my surprise I matched five out of six numbers.
“I just remember us all shouting and jumping with joy.
“I checked so many times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. My family at home still aren’t convinced it’s for real, but it is.”
Ms Fallorina lost her son several years ago to biliary atresia, a rare liver condition that requires a transplant.
Although she was listed as a potential donor, Ms Fallorina's son's health deteriorated so quickly that he died before being able to undergo further treatment. He was less than a year old.
On the day of the draw, Ms Fallorina said she had a feeling something big was going to happen.
"There are times I sit talking to my late son, and I told him that I want to fulfil my role as a mother to my other children because I wasn't able to do it for him," she said.
“This win is for him.”
For Saturday’s draw, she turned to her family for inspiration and picked her lucky numbers based on their birth and anniversary dates. Her winning matches were 3, 8, 19, 24, 25.
“The numbers I chose are all related to us,” she said.
“Three is my eldest son’s birthday, eight is the anniversary of the death of my second son, 19 is my youngest son’s birthday, 24 is my birthday and 25 appeared in my dreams.”
Asked what she plans to do with the winnings, her first answer was to help others.
"When I asked the Lord to win, I promised him that I would share the prize and let that money grow," she said.
“We are distributing the money to our church and to biliary atresia patients, because this was the cause of my second child’s death.
“We can also pay off our debts and invest in our two children’s education.”
She will split the Dh1,000,000 second prize with a Pakistani resident.
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