Cordova resident Conrad Loadholt could not believe his eyes Saturday morning when he scratched the $2 Cash Bonanza ticket at the Cannon Bridge Road Short Stop convenience store.

“I scratched the first number on the ticket,” Loadholt said. “I could see the 50, and then I could see the comma and three zeroes behind it.”

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about seven years ago, Loadholt said he ‘just kind of looked at the ticket’ telling him he had just won $50,000, crediting his medications for keeping him on an even keel.

But his wife, Lisa, who was with him during the victory, was a completely different story.

“I said, Oh my God and started screaming,” she said. “I did not believe it at first. I said, ‘Are you kidding,’ and he said, ‘No, I am not kidding!”

“I thought I would have to do CPR,” Conrad said.

In addition to his wife, Conrad said the employees at the Short Stop too were going wild saying it was the largest winnings ever seen at the store. Conrad estimates he will take home between $32,000 and $37,000 after taxes.

And so what will the Loadholts do now with their new found winnings?

“The first thing I want to do is fill up my truck for the first time in a year,” Conrad said. “The gas is too ridiculous and out of hand. Then I want to pay off a bunch of bills. The best thing is to pay off debts, because the economy is not getting much better.”

And then?

“We have a five year old boy (Austin) and we are going to Disney World,” Lisa said. “He is going to see Micky Mouse.”

For the Loadholt family winning is not without precedent.

About two years ago, Conrad won $10,000 also on a $10 Cash Bonanza.

“I play not too much or not too less but enough to get fussed at by my wife,” he said, explaining that typically $30 a week goes into the purchase of lottery tickets.

And with his winning ways freshly in his memory, Lisa says there will most likely be more playing.

“He will keep playing,” she said. “He says no, but I know he will.”

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