A Massachusetts man recovering from open-heart surgery won $1 million on a scratch-off ticket in a get-well card from a friend.
After he underwent a double-bypass heart surgery last month, Alexander McLeish's childhood friend Larry gave him a get-well card and included three instant lottery tickets.
There was something very special about this winning ticket of his.
As he started to scratch the "Your Letters" area, McLeish first unveiled the letters A, W and M, which are exactly his initials, according to a press release from the Massachusetts State Lottery.
To make things even more interesting, the word he unveiled on the bottom row was "heart".
He ended up winning the second top-prize for the $5,000,000 100X Cashword instant ticket game, in which people can earn more money for how many complete words they find.
Before McLeish shared the incredible news, he made sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He said, "We double-checked it, triple-checked and quadruple-checked it. It was a little bit of disbelief at first but then it settled in and it was like, wow, I can't believe this happened, you know?"
McLeish, who had already claimed his prize - a one-time payout of $650,000 before taxes - said this is not really the first time he's won a prize from a scratch-off ticket.
McLeish actually won a $1,000 prize several years back, thanks to the very same friend, who got him a ticket as a birthday gift.
When asked what he's going to do with the windfall, McLeish said he doesn't plan on using it all on himself. He will give some to his children as well as his good friend Larry, and fund a trip to the Bahamas that he had booked before the big win.
Source: https://www.insider.com/man-gifted-lottery-ticket-after-open-heart-surgery-won-million-2021-12
