LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Louisville man who wishes to remain anonymous celebrated over a decade of sobriety the day before turning in a scratch-off ticket worth $200,000.
On Friday, Oct. 25, the man stopped at a Thorntons gas station on his way home where he bought a couple $10 tickets and a Big Red soda.
Once he was home, he sat in his recliner and began scratching the tickets. One of the tickets revealed a $200,000 prize.
“I just scratched it and just sat there,” he said. “Nobody was home. And I just sat there saying, ‘Is it real, I don’t know, is it real?’”
He still couldn’t believe it, so he scanned the ticket on the Kentucky Lottery app with his phone and it showed on the screen, ‘You’ve won $200,000!’”.
When his wife arrived home, he quickly surprised her with the news. “I told my wife, and she just started crying. She’s like, ‘Is this real?’ ‘Yeah, it is real,’ I said. She just couldn’t believe it.”
This win meant more than just a monetary prize to the man.
“Yesterday I celebrated 14 years sober. I passed the Healing Place on my way here and I was there for nine months, and silver chipped out of there. So, it really feels like life is coming full circle,” he told lottery officials. “
“Here I am. I want to tell people that I am sober because there might be people out there that do not know that there is solution and a future for them.”
The following Monday, he visited the lottery headquarters downtown where he received a check for $144,000 after taxes. He said he and his wife have plans to put the money into their house and investments.
“I want to make sure it counts for something. I really do. I want it to change my life, and I think it will,” he said.
Thorntons, the retailer where the winning ticket was sold, will receive $2,000.
