Forgotten Fantasy 5 ticket had won $200.000

Yandiel Cruz-Chavez, from Wyoming in Michigan, USA, bought a Fantasy 5 ticket in May and then just forgot about it.  Nearly a month later he discovered the ticket and found out it had won $200,000.

Chavez had absolutely no idea that the Fantasy 5 ticket that was in his wallet was a big winner. It had cost him just a single dollar to purchase but that was a great buy. His ticket matched all of the five numbers - 08-20-29-33-39 - to land the top prize in the May 30 draw.

The 31-year-old just carried on his life as normal, unaware of his good fortune. Lottery officials began the wait for the Fantasy 5 jackpot winner to come forward.

The unknowing winner admits that he simply forgot about making his ticket purchase. They say you have to be in it to win it, but Chavez didn’t even know he was in it.

His winning ticket had been purchased from the Big Top Market in Wyoming, near Grand Rapids. Weeks went by and the jackpot win remained unclaimed.

Then the situation finally changed and a big surprise was on the way for him. He found the ticket in his wallet and took it to a store to be scanned.

Disbelief

He got a message that asked him that he needed to make a claim to Lottery HQ. Chavez also checked the results online and then the shocks continued:  “When I realised I'd won the jackpot, I was in disbelief at first, said the surprised winner.

His fantastic win was $199,407 and it took a while for the discovery to sink in. “I was overcome with excitement and called everyone in my family to tell them the good news,” said Chavez.

A perfect time

The Fantasy 5 win has come at “a perfect time,” he added. For him, his windfall is a “huge blessing to me and my family."

Plans for his jackpot win include investing in some home renovations. The majority of his windfall will be saved for the future.

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