Wife puts lottery ticket in husband's anniversary card - wins $25,000 a year
A wife who put a lottery ticket in her husband's wedding anniversary card was astonished when it won them an amazing $25,000 a year for life.
Shelley German, from Salem, in the US state of New Hampshire, had bought the ticket as a last-minute gift for their 43rd wedding anniversary.
Bizarrely, on their 38th anniversary, the lucky couple had won a new car.
Massachusetts Lottery said: "Shelley German of Salem, NH is the winner of a $25,000 (£19,600) a year for life prize in the multi-state Lucky for Life game after the first five numbers on her Quic Pic ticket matched those selected in the drawing that took place July 28."
It went on: "She said she put her winning ticket in an anniversary card for her husband thinking it had matched four of the first five numbers.
'I'm spending £20k on a new bathroom - but won't help my brother out with cash'"When they rechecked the numbers together, they realised that all five of those numbers matched."
Lottery officials said that German and her husband, who celebrated their anniversary on August 2 as they collected their prize at the Massachusetts State Lottery headquarters in Dorchester.
The statement said: "She chose the annuity option on her prize and received the first of 20 annual payments of $25,000 (before taxes).
"She said on their 38th anniversary she won a new car in a raffle, then also noted that her first real jackpot was her husband."
German told lottery officials that she plans to spend some of her winnings on home improvements after she bought the ticket from Ted’s Stateline Mobil in Methuen.
This comes as a man only found he had won a $1million lottery jackpot when he saw a report saying that the jackpot prize had still not been claimed in the $1million Mega Millions prize.
And incredibly, David Morris from the town of Pineville in North Carolina, US, only won after asking his kids to help him choose the numbers.
The lucky man matched numbers on all five white balls to win his $1million (£786,000) super prize on Tuesday August 2.
He celebrated the amazing win after taking part in the competition for the fourth-largest Mega Millions jackpot ever.
The estimated jackpot of $1.35billion (£1.06billion) ranks as the second largest in the game’s history.
'My sister tried to wear a wedding dress to my engagement party - I got revenge'The dad said that he does not usually play Mega Millions but after seeing the amount another decided to give it a chance in the hope of gaining the big jackpot.