Woman ‘had to blink a few times’ when she saw she won Iowa lottery game — again

Having already won big in the Iowa Lottery this year, a woman stuck to her plan — her calm, cool and collected plan.

Using her favorite number combination, Marie Johnson-Fernandez won for the second time in six months with matching Pick 4 tickets she purchased at a convenience store in her hometown of Williamsburg.

“I saw 1-0-1-0 and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute!’ I had to blink a few times,” Johnson-Fernandez told lottery officials Oct. 10, the same day she won. “Then I got excited like I always do.”

But just like she did when she won $26,500 in an April drawing, she reined in that excitement.

“My whole system is to remain calm,” she said. “I may scream out loud, but my whole thing is to not hyperventilate and pass out because I’m usually someplace by myself.”

Officials said Johnson-Fernandez purchased multiple tickets with the same numbers and bet different amounts to win a total of $59,500.

Johnson-Fernandez, who retired from a school district role in May, called her husband after she won, then she drove to the lottery’s headquarters in Cedar Rapids to claim her prize, officials said.

Her plans for her winnings including paying bills, paying for a cruise and helping others.

Williamsburg is about a 40-mile drive southwest from Cedar Rapids.