Grocery store trip turns into $2M lottery jackpot for 82-year-old man
Hugh Leach (Credit: Michigan Lottery)
LANSING, Mich. - A trip to the grocery store ended with a $2 million lottery prize for a Michigan man.
82-year-old Hugh Leach recently played the Michigan Lottery’s Diamonds & Gold instant game after shopping at the Meijer store in Mason.
"I buy a $20 ticket every two weeks," Leach said in an online news release. "When I finished up grocery shopping, I stopped at the Lottery machine and purchased a ticket on my way out. When I got home and finished unloading the groceries, I scratched the ticket.
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"When I saw I matched ‘02’ for a $2 million prize, I thought: ‘Wait a minute. This can’t be right.’ I looked the ticket over a few more times and then said to my wife: ‘I think I just won $2 million!’ I called the Lottery the next day to confirm it was real and schedule an appointment to claim my prize."
Leach recently claimed his prize by taking the one-time lump sum payment of about $1.3 million.
He plans on buying a new car, a new lawn mower, investing, and completing some home repairs.
"You see these types of things happen to other people, but you never think it will be you, so winning was a complete shock," he said.
"Going to the grocery store to fill your pantry and finding out you also filled your bank account must be an incredible feeling!" Lottery Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said. "I’d like to congratulate Hugh Leach on his big win and thank him, and all of our loyal players, for helping the Lottery contribute more than $28 billion to Michigan schools since 1972!"
This story was reported from Los Angeles.