Lottery winner FaceTimes wife from Ohio gas station bathroom. ‘I was shaking so bad’

An Ohio lottery player who took a mid-day break to buy a lottery ticket came away with “a big one.”

The lottery player, who cleans gutters for a living, won the huge prize with a $500,000 Platinum Jackpot ticket he purchased at a gas station in Berea, the Ohio Lottery said in an Aug. 29 news release. He originally went to the counter with a drink but instead purchased only the ticket.

It didn’t take him long to realize he was a $50,000 winner.

“I went to the car and started scratching it, and then I realized it was $5,000 after $5,000 after $5,000,” the winner told Ohio Lottery officials.

He said he “shut down” as he scanned the ticket on the lottery app, which confirmed his $50,000 win.

“I shoved it in my pocket, and I went back into the bathroom,” he said. “I called my wife. I was shaking so bad; she couldn’t even see the ticket on FaceTime.”

When the winner went back to the counter, he shared with the clerk that he had won “a big one.” The clerk was also in disbelief over the man’s winnings.

“He was like, ‘I can’t believe I just sold this guy a $50,000 ticket five minutes ago,’” the winner recalled.

After taxes, the lottery player came away with about $36,000. He said he plans on saving some of the money, but also has plans to pay off debt and treat himself.

There are 12 $50,000 prizes in the Platinum Jackpot game, which also offers four prizes of $500,000.

Berea is about a 15-mile drive southwest from Cleveland.

This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 9:10 AM with the headline "Lottery winner FaceTimes wife from Ohio gas station bathroom. ‘I was shaking so bad’."