Niamh Shackleton
A woman got a pleasant surprise after accidentally winning the lottery.
Last month, Kelly Lindsay stopped off at a Race Way gas station in Carrollton, Virginia, to pick up a scratch card.
Kelly had a specific type of lottery in mind that she wanted to play, and after paying for her ticket she went into the park lot to see if she'd won.
But then she realized she'd been given a different scratch card from the one she wanted; something Kelly said she wasn't happy about.
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Such feelings quickly subsided though. After scratching her Money Blitz card, it revealed that Kelly had won a $2,000,000 jackpot.
Speaking after her unexpected win, she said: "I got over not being happy about it!"
I think if I got $2,000,000 compensation for a cashier getting my order wrong, I'd also be fine with it.
Confirming Kelly's win and the option she went for, Virginia Lottery said: "Ms. Lindsay had the choice of taking the full $2 million prize in annual payments over 30 years or a one-time cash option of $1,250,000 before taxes."
"The chances of winning the top prize are 1 in 1,142,400," the lottery noted. "The chances of winning any prize in this game are 1 in 3.29."
A similar fate happened to Tayeb Souami in 2018 when he went to return some orange juice to a store and ended up millions of dollars richer afterwards.
Tayeb and his wife had fallen on hard times financially, and his wife dubbed a $5 bottle of juice too expensive and ordered him to take it back and find something cheaper.
But instead of buying another beverage, Tayeb purchased two Powerball lottery tickets.
When he returned home, Tayeb actually forgot about buying the tickets and only remembered to check his numbers the following day.
One of the two tickets was a dud, but the other went on to change Tayeb's life for the better.
A store’s lottery machine told him to go see the retailer when he checked his second ticket, and he went on to be told that he'd won an eye-watering $315,000,000.
Speaking to the press after the historic win, Tayeb said that he planned on paying for his son and daughter's education.
Tayeb also quipped that the win made him 'love orange juice' - and I think I'd feel the same.
Please gamble responsibly. For help, support and advice about problem gambling, call the National Problem Gambling Helpline on 1-800-GAMBLER, 24/7.