Cancer survivor’s intuition led him to drive across town for lotto tickets. It pays off

A lottery player was unlucky as he purchased lottery tickets on his way to work, but he “followed his gut” as he later returned to the convenience store, Ohio officials say.

His intuition paid off, winning a $1 million prize in the Ohio Lottery’s Billion scratch-off game.

“Something kind of told me to go back to that store,” Michael Simons Jr., from Massillon, told Ohio Lottery officials. “It was clear across town by my house, about five miles out of the way, so I went zooming past Home Depot where I was going to get the broom, went back to the store.”

Simons initially thought he won $100 before realizing he had won the $1 million prize. He chose the cash option of $500,000 and will receive about $360,000 after taxes, lottery officials said.

He said he called his 89-year-old grandmother to share his good news after first telling the convenience store owner.

Now, Simons plans to give back to a chemo center where he was treated for cancer.

“I got a bad colonoscopy last year, went through stage 3 colon cancer… went through 12 rounds of intensive chemo and got a clean scan in April. They got me out of stage 3,” he said.

Billion, which costs $50 to play, offers a top prize of $1 million a year for 20 years.

Massillon is about a 55-mile drive south from Cleveland.

This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 10:38 AM with the headline "Cancer survivor’s intuition led him to drive across town for lotto tickets. It pays off."