SANDUSKY, Ohio -
Good luck tragically turns to bad fortune for an Ohio Lottery winner who was killed hours after her check arrived.
Robert and Deborah McDonald moved to Sandusky from Columbus last summer. They were struggling financially, until their fortunes changed...or so they thought.
Robert McDonald says the day they learned Deborah was to appear on an Ohio Lottery television show was a dream come true.
"The day she came home from the mailbox and said, look, I got my money...I'm going on Cash Explosion," he said.
Deborah, 47, won $8,000 on the Ohio Lottery's Cash Explosion Double Play television show.
Her husband and two best friends went with her to Columbus for the taping earlier this month.
"We went and cashed her check, we were taking pictures," Sherry Blissit explained, about the day the check for $5,520 arrived Tuesday.
"She bought her and I a friendship ring," she said. Earlier, Deborah had purchased wedding rings for her and Robert, something that they couldn't afford to do before.
The women went on a shopping spree then all four had dinner at Red Lobster, eventually going to a local tavern for drinks and dancing.
"She's like, 'get anything you want,'" said Blissit.
Then around 9:46 p.m. the celebration turned to tragedy.
While leaving the Sandusky area tavern, Deborah was struck and killed by a car on US Route 6.
According to investigators, the car was heading westbound and McDonald was walking in the westbound lane when she was hit. The impact caused her to strike a traffic sign. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"She went out the door and before I'd even come out, she had already got hit," Blissit recalled tearfully.
McDonald says he acted immediately to try and save his wife.
"I dove head first into the ditch, I seen her laying there, I tried to help her, but she was already dead," said McDonald.
Deborah's husband says he never thought the dreams they had for the future would so quickly turn into a nightmare.
"She said we're finally gonna get all of our bills paid and have a vacation...we got our bills paid, but no vacation," said McDonald.
"She lived everything that she wanted to do all in one day...and then she was gone," said Blisset.
The show is scheduled to air this Saturday, with a special message from the Ohio Lottery Commission.
Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol say they have no plans to charge the driver.
Robert and Deborah McDonald moved to Sandusky from Columbus last summer. They were struggling financially, until their fortunes changed...or so they thought.
Robert McDonald says the day they learned Deborah was to appear on an Ohio Lottery television show was a dream come true.
"The day she came home from the mailbox and said, look, I got my money...I'm going on Cash Explosion," he said.
Deborah, 47, won $8,000 on the Ohio Lottery's Cash Explosion Double Play television show.
Her husband and two best friends went with her to Columbus for the taping earlier this month.
"We went and cashed her check, we were taking pictures," Sherry Blissit explained, about the day the check for $5,520 arrived Tuesday.
"She bought her and I a friendship ring," she said. Earlier, Deborah had purchased wedding rings for her and Robert, something that they couldn't afford to do before.
The women went on a shopping spree then all four had dinner at Red Lobster, eventually going to a local tavern for drinks and dancing.
"She's like, 'get anything you want,'" said Blissit.
Then around 9:46 p.m. the celebration turned to tragedy.
While leaving the Sandusky area tavern, Deborah was struck and killed by a car on US Route 6.
According to investigators, the car was heading westbound and McDonald was walking in the westbound lane when she was hit. The impact caused her to strike a traffic sign. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"She went out the door and before I'd even come out, she had already got hit," Blissit recalled tearfully.
McDonald says he acted immediately to try and save his wife.
"I dove head first into the ditch, I seen her laying there, I tried to help her, but she was already dead," said McDonald.
Deborah's husband says he never thought the dreams they had for the future would so quickly turn into a nightmare.
"She said we're finally gonna get all of our bills paid and have a vacation...we got our bills paid, but no vacation," said McDonald.
"She lived everything that she wanted to do all in one day...and then she was gone," said Blisset.
The show is scheduled to air this Saturday, with a special message from the Ohio Lottery Commission.
Troopers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol say they have no plans to charge the driver.
