A 65 year-old vietnam Vet soldier Napolean Elvord wins a $14.3 million Megabucks jackpot after accidentally playing the wrong lottery game, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. He unknowingly needs it as he needs a kidney transplant and needs to spend the money in treatment like the dialysis which has been receiving for five years.
Though he was a regular lottery player, he took three days to claim his prize after mistakenly purchasing a Megabucks ticket instead of his usual Powerball ticket, he told the paper. Had it not been for workers at a Madison, Wisconsin, Mobil gas station asking him if he'd won, Elvord may have missed out on collecting his winnings.
"The first thing they asked me was, 'Did you make up the ticket?'" Elvord told the Journal.
In claiming his prize, Elvord opted for the one-time lump sum payment of $10.2 million, or $6.87 million after taxes, according to The Consumerist.
But the lucky man won't be spending his cash on flashy cars or a huge new house. Instead, the ailing veteran, who's spent five years on dialysis, plans to buy health insurance to help him get a kidney transplant, according to LimeLife.com.
Elvord said he'll also take this opportunity to move back to his native Texas, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Accidental lottery wins have become something of a trend in recent months. Last November, a clerk accidentally rung up an extra Powerball lottery ticket for a man, an error that caused him to win $1 million instead of $200,000.
Just a few months earlier, a Georgia woman won $25 million after a clerk gave her a winning Powerball ticket instead of a Mega Millions ticket. "I think it was a mistake," he told the Journal. "Because I was trying to play the Powerball."
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| Vietnam Vet Napolean Elvord receiving cheque |
