Emily Brown
A 76-year-old woman from Pennsylvania realized her attempt at doing a good deed could have cost her $2.5 million when her winning lottery ticket accidentally ended up with charity.
Mildred Simoneriluto did her bit for charity when she donated some of her clothing to the Vietnam Veterans of America, an organization which offers outreach programs and services to veterans.
The elderly woman then continued to go about her life, probably not thinking too much about the jacket until one day last year, when she realized the lottery ticket she'd bought from a grocery store in Murrysville two weeks earlier, in May 2024, was a winner.
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We're not talking a few dollars here, but rather $2.5 million - a truly life-changing amount.
After learning about her win, Mildred frantically began searching for her ticket, only to realize that she'd left it in the pocket of an old jacket that she'd given to the Vietnam Veterans of America.
Since the charity donates clothing to countries across the globe, there's a chance Mildred's jacket - and her winning lottery ticket - isn't even in the US any more.
In an interview with 6abc Philadelphia, Mildred described how she felt when she realized what had happened.
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"I was stupefied," she said. "I was- there's no words for it. It was like beyond expression - 'how can I get it back?'"
Mildred admitted she'd put the ticket in her jacket pocket so she wouldn't forget about it, but unfortunately, the well-meaning plan didn't quite work out as she'd hoped.
Lottery officials in Pennsylvania have told Mildred she must have the ticket in person in order for her to claim the jackpot, and with the deadline to claim the cash set to expire on May 8, Mildred is quickly running out of time.
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As part of her efforts to try and rectify the situation, Mildred has since returned to the grocery store where she originally bought the lottery ticket on multiple occasions, but unfortunately employees haven't been able to do anything to help her out.
While she might have initially forgotten where she put the ticket, Mildred hasn't forgotten the numbers she had on her winning slip: 14, 22, 33, 35, and 38.
With few options at her disposal, Mildred asked: “What else can I do? Cry out loud and hope that something will happen positive on my end?”
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Here's hoping karma will be kind to Mildred, especially after her donation to charity ended up being much more valuable than she could have ever anticipated!