Massachusetts store owners rescue woman’s $1m lottery ticket from trash
A Massachusetts woman who accidentally tossed out a $1m lottery ticket eventually collected her winnings thanks to the kindness and honesty of the owners of the store where she bought it.
Lea Rose Fiega bought the $30 Diamond Millions scratch-off ticket in March at the Lucky Stop convenience store in Southwick, near where she works.
“I was in a hurry, on lunch break, and just scratched it real quick, and looked at it, and it didn’t look like a winner, so I handed it over to them to throw away,” she said.
The ticket lay discarded behind the counter for 10 days until Abhi Shah, the son of the store’s owners, was going through the trash and found the ticket that had a number not scratched off. He scratched it off to reveal a $1m ticket.
“We had mixed emotions,” Shah told the Washington Post. “We didn’t sleep for two nights, but I don’t know what happened. My inner soul told me: ‘That’s not right. You know who that person is. You should give that ticket back to them.’ And that’s exactly what I did.”
Shah went to see Fiega at work.
“He came to my office and said ‘my mom and dad would like to see you,”’ Fiega said. “I said ‘I’m working,’ and he said ‘no you have to come over.’ So I went over there and that’s when they told me. I was in total disbelief. I cried, I hugged them.”
Fiega said overcoming a near fatal bout of Covid in January was like “winning the lottery” – so she feels doubly fortunate.
“I mean, who does that? They’re great people. I am beyond blessed,” she said.
The store gets a $10,000 bonus from the state lottery commission for selling the winning ticket. Fiega said she gave the family an additional reward. She’s saving the rest for retirement.