Lottery’s ‘Lucky 7’: Check, Please

Emerging from days of keeping a low profile, six Orange County medical lab technicians and a receptionist appeared Friday to claim the largest lottery jackpot in California history and one of the biggest in the United States.

Speaking at a news conference in the state lottery headquarters in Santa Fe Springs, the self-proclaimed “Lucky 7” shared their plans for the $315 million in winnings, from funding retirements and vacations to paying for a sick nephew’s open-heart surgery.

The group arrived in a stretch limousine for their first public appearance since winning Tuesday night’s Mega Millions jackpot, the first paid in California for the multi-state lottery.

Kate Lynn Juergens, 25, of Anaheim, said she planned to take her family to Walt Disney World.

The receptionist had only $2 for the lottery pool and had to borrow $1 from co-worker and co-winner Bob Guerzon.

At the news conference, Juergens, Guerzon, Mariza Cuya, Jennifer Habib, Joyce Onori, Brenda Heller and Kathy Jones posed for the obligatory picture with a gigantic check.

The group seemed shellshocked as they were surrounded by lottery officials, media crews and representatives from national television programs.

“I don’t have any plans, except to enjoy living,” said Habib, 64, of Orange. “It’s the first time for me to win anything.” Habib planned to vacation, remodel her house and buy a Lexus, she said.

Others had retirement in mind.

“It means security ... something I’ve been concerned about for a long time,” said Onori, 60, of Santa Ana.

The “Lucky 7,” employees at a Kaiser Permanente medical office in Garden Grove, were working a Saturday shift and decided to chip in $3 each to buy a handful of lottery tickets. The group has opted for a lump-sum payment, meaning each will receive about $25 million before taxes.

Most of their colleagues at the medical center were happy for them, the group said. One woman who was working in the lab Saturday but declined to join the lottery pool congratulated them.

Earlier this week, the seven bought pizzas for everyone in their office building.

But not everybody was pleased.

Some co-workers thought they were unfairly excluded from the lottery pool, charges the “Lucky 7” called sour grapes.

“People can say it. It doesn’t mean anything,” Juergens said. “We’re keeping [the winnings] to ourselves.”

Then a reporter asked if any of the winners had a sick relative or any other pressing needs.

Cuya, of Anaheim, who had stood quietly through most of the frenzied gathering, spoke up.

She has a 6-year-old nephew who will undergo open-heart surgery this weekend.

The family has been struggling to pay the bills, and Cuya had to mortgage her car, she said. Her voice shaking, she could no longer speak.

“I’m going to cry,” she said.