Crawford woman wins big thanks to Christmas gift from grandson

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Someone was clearly on Santa's nice list.

A northwest Nebraska woman won it big in the Nebraska Lottery, thanks to a gift from her grandson.

Linda Garey, of Crawford, won the final $50,000 top prize playing the Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer scratch game from the Nebraska Lottery.

The winning ticket was purchased at a Super C in Lincoln

One of Garey's grandsons bought the winning ticket for her as a Christmas gift before heading out west for the family's holiday celebration.

After scratching the ticket, Garey and her grandsons went to the local gas station to make sure it was correct. It was, and her grandkids helped her make the 450-mile trek from Crawford to Lincoln to cash in the winning ticket.

The Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer game had a total of three top prizes of $50,000, the last of which was the one won by Garey. The odds of winning the grand prize were 1 in 104,000.

Garey said she’s a regular Nebraska Lottery player but this is the first time she’s won anything close to this amount.

“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” Garey said, looking at her grandson after scratching off the ticket. “I’d say it’s an appropriate ticket.”