Dad in financial distress takes orange juice back to shop. He returned with a $315 million surprise

Back in 2018, a man from New Jersey went to return some orange juice and walked out with a lottery ticket that won him $315 million. Tayeb Souami, who was just following his wife's instructions and trying to save some money, became the sole winner of the Powerball jackpot, that year. Souami's story of finding fortune is incredibly heartwarming. 

Change of luck that changed his life forever

Souami was heavily burdened with loans and struggling financially. The 56-year-old accountant was still paying off his student debt and supporting his daughter through college as well. Souami and his wife had refinanced their house for their expenses. They also decided to save every penny they could, even on things like groceries, The Washington Post reported.

This is why when Souami came home with $5 bottles of orange juice. His wife told him to return them. She had found out that they were on sale for $2.50 at another local store and wanted to take advantage, he said at the press conference after collecting his prize. 

While the savings were small and returning the juice was a hassle, Souami didn't argue and went to return the items.

When Souami went up to the customer service counter, the Powerball lottery sign caught his eye, specifically the prize number of $306 million. "I like the number," he said he thought to himself when he decided to buy two tickets with the cash he got after returning the orange juice.

While purchasing the lottery tickets led to no savings, it did change the couple's lives forever.  For one of the tickets, Souami picked the numbers 3, 6, 9, 17, 56, and 25 for the Powerball. He quietly pocketed the tickets and went home. The next day, Souami planned to take his car for a wash.

While driving to the car wash, he stopped at a traffic signal and noticed a 7-Eleven store. That's when he was reminded of the tickets, so he went in to check if he had won something.

While the first ticket scanned as a no-winner, the scan of the second ticket read “must be seen by the retailer”. Thus, Soaumi took the ticket to the cashier and told them that the machine may not be working. 

However, when the cashier scanned the ticket, the first response was "Oh my god!", Souami recalled. She kept repeating and when Souami asked, she simply said "Big". That's when he learned that he had just won the $315 million Powerball jackpot.

He was shell-shocked and it took him two hours to get home as his hands were shaking too much. Souami told the reporters at the press conference that when his wife asked him what took him so long he started crying and showed her the lottery form. Souami chose to take the lump sum amount and received $183 million in cash.

After winning the lottery Souami quit his job and made plans to use the money, Good Morning America reported. He shared that the first thing he wanted to do was pay off his student loans, and his house and pay for his daughter's college tuition for the next year.

This article originally appeared 2 months ago.