She almost tossed her lottery ticket. An onlooker helped her avoid $1 million mistake
A Florida woman almost tossed her lottery ticket — but she avoided a costly mistake.
Instead, Jill Rowell discovered the ticket was worth $1 million and drove to a claims center in Tallahassee as soon as she could, the Florida Lottery said March 9 in a news release.
“I scanned the ticket at the machine, and you could say it was definitely a ‘spectacular’ surprise,” said Rowell, who won her prize in a scratch-off game called $1,000,000 A Year For Life Spectacular.
Rowell’s luck started with a trip to Super Snead’s, a store roughly 50 miles northwest of Tallahassee. While at the business, officials said, she spent $50 on the prize-winning ticket.
“Rowell shared with lottery officials that she was actually about to throw her scratch-off in the trash when an onlooker suggested she take a second look at her ticket,” the Florida Lottery wrote.
Rowell’s decision to keep the scratch-off paid big time when she learned she was getting much richer. The 52-year-old Jackson County resident took her $1 million prize in a lump sum of $640,000, officials said.
It’s not the only time a lottery winner has nearly gotten rid of a lucky ticket. Recently, players in Michigan and Maryland almost threw out their tickets before realizing they scored jackpot prizes, McClatchy News reported.
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This story was originally published March 13, 2023 at 12:23 PM with the headline "She almost tossed her lottery ticket. An onlooker helped her avoid $1 million mistake."
