Washington man wins $500,000 lottery prize. Then, he doubled it in a month with a ticket he misplaced
When it comes to the lottery, one stroke of luck is all it takes to change a person's life, but for some fortune knocks on their door a second time when they least expect it to. Something that unthinkable did happen to Phillip H. who lost a winning lottery ticket but later found it to double his reward. According to Lottery USA, after an entire month of searching for the missing ticket, the 57-year-old Washington resident and environmental volunteer found the second of the two winners both of which were worth a lump sum of $500,000. "After searching through old tickets, I found it and let out a big sigh of relief," he told Lottery USA.
Phillip then said how he always buys two tickets and picks his own numbers. "That's my winning strategy. I saw that the first ticket was a winner but couldn't find the other ticket," he added. The winning White Ball numbers were 3, 6, 17, 24, and 35, and the Lucky Ball was 2. He later revealed that he was going to use a part of his winnings for home renovations and purchasing a new truck to help with his volunteering efforts. Lucky for Life is a daily draw game available in the District of Columbia as well as 22 other states. The Washington resident with Jamaican roots claimed his first $25,000 instalment of the A Year for Life prize worth a total of $500,000, soon after the drawing. However, he didn't say anything about the second winning as he was unable to locate the ticket. More than a month later, he returned with the missing ticket, according to Lottery USA.
In another similar case, a grandad claimed a whopping $24 million jackpot after he almost missed out on claiming the money. Jimmie Smith, a retired security guard heard an announcement on television that talked about a winning ticket, for which no one had claimed a prize yet. Smith, an enthusiastic lottery ticket buyer, thought of checking the shirt's pocket in his closet once. To his surprise, he found the ticket in a pocket full of unchecked tickets. "I ended up with a stack - a pile of tickets, including the one they were talking about on the news," he told lottery officials.
"I stood there for a minute thinking, ‘Do I see what I think I see?" he told NJ.com, adding that he then stuck his head out of the window for some fresh air. "I was in serious doubt. I had to convince myself this was real," he said. Smith later opted to take his $24.1 million in laddered payments over 26 years which is often the choice many people suggest. Smith's winning numbers were 5-12-13-22-25 and 35, and the ticket was bought from a grocery and tobacco shop at 158 Church Street in the Tribecca neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. Smith was able to claim the prize almost a year after the he won. "We are thrilled that this lucky winner was able to locate this life-changing ticket," the Dean, of the Gaming Commission said.
