When most people buy lottery tickets, they will often check them before tossing them in the trash. A Michigan woman who won a $1 million prize initially threw out her winning ticket because she got it confused for a non-winner.
The 30-year-old Clinton County told Michigan Lottery officials that she bought a pair of Sizzling Hot 7’s scratch-off tickets from Hansen’s Quik Stop in Ovid.
“I always play the new instant tickets when they come out each month,” the woman said. “I was at the store one night and decided to buy two of the Sizzling Hot 7’s tickets since it is a newer game. I scratched the tickets when I got in my car and thought they were both non-winners, so I put them in a bag with some other garbage to throw away.”
The woman thought she’d take a second look the next day to ensure she hadn’t been mistaken.
“The next morning, I decided to look the tickets over one more time before throwing them away. When I saw I’d won $1 million, my heart started racing and I thought I was going to faint. I called my mom and my husband right away to tell them the good news! I am so glad I decided to look the ticket over again before throwing it away,” the winner recalled.
The winner said that the prize money will be going toward buying a house and making investments for the future.