25 February 2024 , 16:17
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A warehouse worker bagged an £800,000 ($1m) lottery jackpot - after finding a forgotten winning ticket hiding in her purse.
The stunned woman, from Maryland, USA, said she planned to pay off her mortgage and donate to an animal rescue centre after collecting the life-changing sum of money this week. She had bought the £7.89 ($10) ‘quick-pick’ Powerball ticket at a shop in the town of Snow Hill, in the hopes of winning the massive £658m ($835m) jackpot back on September 27.
The woman, who has decided to remain anonymous, then forgot all about it following the draw where no one won the huge cash prize. But in fact, she was one of four players nationwide to win £800,000 ($1m), which was a second-tier prize, as part of the competition.
But the woman forgot all about her ticket following the draw. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)When she found the ticket in her purse months later, while searching for another item, she decided to ask her husband to check whether she had won anything when he passed by the shops. He then scanned the Powerball ticket to see if it had recorded a win and could not believe his eyes when he saw a number with six zeros pop up.
Woman was 'adamant' she would win top lottery prize - then pockets $200,000
The woman’s husband remembered: “There were a lot of zeros. I thought it was some type of promotional message. I scanned it again and got the same numbers.”
He gave the ticket to a shop worker to scan and said their face lit up with excitement when they saw the figure. The employee then confirmed he held a $1 million (£800,000) winning ticket, and the happy husband went home to share the great news with his stunned wife.
She had thought he was pulling a prank when he first came through the door with the good news. The woman added: “I just wanted to check it to see if we got anything. He likes to kid around and I thought he was joking.”
The winner said she planned to pay off their home mortgage and donate some funds to an animal rescue. While the shop, the Duck In II at 5610 East Market Street in Snow Hill, received a £1971 ($2,500) bonus for selling the ticket.
The woman thought her husband was pulling a prank when he came through the door with the good news. (AFP via Getty Images)A week ago, another lottery winner was less fortunate when they failed to collect their cash prize in time, meaning they missed out on £28.5 million ($36m) in the Mega Millions jackpot in the US. The winning ticket was bought at a Publix supermarket in Jacksonville, Florida, but the unknown lucky punter missed out on the life-changing sum of money as they did not come forward to collect it within 180 days of the draw.
The organisers of draw Mega Millions and the Florida Lottery did warn people in the state who used the Publix to play the lottery to have a search and check tickets prior to the jackpot’s expiration date.