Alexander McLeish has a big decision to make: How much of his $1 million lotto ticket winnings should he give to the pal who gifted him the winning ticket in a get-well-soon card?
McLeish, of Attleboro, Mass., was recovering from open-heart surgery when his friend Larry dropped by with a card and three scratch tickets to wish him a return to good health.
One of the cards started off with a good omen — McLeish first scratched his initials A, W and M on the crossword puzzle-style ticket in the $5,000,000 100X Cashword game.
The next word he scratched — HEART — had to be a sign, surely? He was, after all, recovering from heart surgery.
The Coca-Cola worker went on scratch 10 more words, earning the game’s second-highest prize.
“We double-checked it, triple-checked and quadruple-checked it because you want to make sure it’s real before you mention it to anybody,” Mr McLeish told the Boston Herald.
“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?”
There are only 10 total prize winners for that amount on the $20 lottery ticket. The top prize is $5 million, reports CNN.
This isn’t the first time McLeish has won on a lottery ticket given to him by his friend, Larry. Several years ago, he won $1,000 on a ticket that Larry gave to him as a birthday gift.
McLeish told the Boston Herald that he’s still deciding how much of his winnings will go to Larry. He also plans to give some money to his adult sons, as well as take a trip to the Bahamas.