A woman in Illinois won $1 million when she rediscovered a forgotten lottery ticket in her purse.
According to the Illinois Lottery, she received the seven-figure windfall as a result of a Lucky Day Lotto ticket she claimed she put in her bag and “forgot all about” after purchasing it during a grocery store trip last month on her way to see a relative.
The woman rediscovered the quick-pick ticket in her purse a few days after the state lottery’s Oct. 20 evening drawing and learned she had won a million dollars.
“A couple days after the drawing, I saw the ticket in my purse and opened my lottery app to scan my ticket and check if it was a winner,” she recalled.” “I immediately saw ‘$1,000,000’ on the screen and I was in total shock.”
“I scanned the ticket once more to double-check, and when it said ‘$1,000,000’ again, I burst into tears. “I thought, ‘This is unbelievable,'” she explained.
The ticket won her the drawing’s grand prize, making her the ninth person to win at least $1 million from the game in 2024, according to the Illinois Lottery.
The lottery stated that the woman “requested to remain anonymous.” Illinois allows winners of $250,000 or more to remain unnamed.
The woman expressed excitement about her seven-figure winnings and plans to travel.
“What excites me the most is being able to afford annual trips to Ireland, my favorite place in the world. “The scenery is breathtaking, and I’m overjoyed that I can now look forward to these trips every year,” she told the state lottery.
According to the Illinois Lottery’s website, two people who purchased Lucky Day Lotto tickets in September won more than $1 million. One won $1.45 million on September 22 and the other won $1.1 million on September 9.
