A New York woman was surprised to learn that she won the lottery, 16 years after she said a psychic told her that she would hit a big prize one day.

Edna Aguayo, a former NYPD cop, won a US$1,000 per day prize through the New York's Lottery Cash4Life game.

She said she knew that she would one day win but she did not know when.

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Aguayo said she was in an amusement park when she met the psychic, who told her to buy lottery tickets "for life" because she is bound to hit a prize of her life.

Aguayo, who is from Queens, bought the winning lottery ticket at the Waldbaum supermarket located on Cross Bay Boulevard. She was able to match all six numbers 9-19-34-37-49 during the July 14 draw.

She said she just expected to win the second prize because she never thought she could win the top prize.

Aguayo regularly purchased Cash4Life lottery tickets every Monday and Thursday until she finally won US$227,410 prize after taxes.

"I really need a vacation! There's a lot of islands I want to go to," said the retiree, who served 20 years as a police officer.

There were two other women who also won the lottery Thursday. One of them was Catherine Morales, a 20-year-old college student, and Elizabeth Polcari from Coram.

Morales, who won five matching numbers in Cash4Life, said it was her father who convinced her to play the lottery. She said she plans use the prize money for her tuition and other student loans. She will receive a bulk payment of US$661,800.

Meanwhile, Polcari will receive US$3 million on her Kings Ransom lottery ticket. She said she will spend her winning son a new "red Corvette." She said she decided to take the one-time payment option ofUS$2,340,000, or US$1,548,612 after taxes.

Polcari said her luck has changed and she's going to focus "on the good" from now on.

TagsLottery, Fortune Teller, Jackpot