(CNN) — An Illinois woman is $1 million richer after winning on a lottery ticket she forgot about.
During a grocery trip to the Jewel-Osco supermarket in Elmhurst in October, she made the last-minute decision to pick up a lottery ticket for the Lucky Day Lotto, a daily draw game in Illinois. The ticket was set for an evening drawing on October 20.
Her ticketing purchase was not only unplanned, but also eventually forgotten about, she said in an Illinois Lottery press release, requesting to remain anonymous.
“While on my way to visit my aunt, I made a quick stop at Jewel to pick up a few groceries, and before heading out the door, I grabbed a quick pick Lucky Day Lotto ticket,” she said. “I actually put the ticket in my purse and forgot all about it.”
On October 20, the game announcers revealed the five winning numbers: 2-3-24-25-28. The woman’s ticket matched all five – but she didn’t know it at the time.
“A couple days after the drawing, I saw the ticket in my purse and opened my lottery app to scan my ticket and check if it was a winner. I immediately saw “$1,000,000” on the screen and I was in total shock,” she said. “I scanned the ticket one more time to double-check, and when it showed “$1,000,000” again, I instantly started crying.”
The woman said the winnings will allow her to travel more.
“What I’m most excited about is being able to afford annual trips to my favorite place in the whole world: Ireland,” the winner said. “The landscape is stunning and I’m thrilled that I can now look forward to these trips every year.”
According to Lottery USA, the odds of winning the jackpot for Lucky Day Lotto are 1 in 1.22 million.
The lucky winner is the ninth Illinois Lottery player this year to win $1 million or more with Lucky Day Lotto.
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