A Walmart supermarket worker from West Covina, California, claimed a $1 million lottery prize last week and admitted his $20 scratcher-off ticket purchase was a chance in a million.
Holding onto an oversize ceremonial check, Nick Aguayo said: "It’s not really in my budget to spend $20 on scratchers, but I just took a chance."
Aguayo's "chance" buy beat odds of 1 in 3,000,000 so it was certainly a chance worth taking. He bought the ticket from a gas station while he was on his lunch break, scratched away its top coating while sitting in his car, and was astounded at what he saw.
Unable to fully accept what his eyes were showing him, Aguayo asked a workmate to double check the ticket when he returned to work.
"I told him I never wanted to run so much in my life," Chris his co-worker recalled. "I had the ticket in my hand."
With Chris' confirmation, the lucky 28-year-old could no longer doubt the fact that he'd beaten the odds and bagged a big win, but he stayed on the job and completed the last three hours of his shift anyway and has no plans to ditch Walmart for a life of ease.
After the necessary deductions for taxes, Aguayo's $20 ticket purchase netted him $750,000—more than enough to clear both his and his mother's debts. Praising her worker's character, Walmart store manager Crystal Garcia said: "The first thing out of his mouth was how he was going to take care of his mother. To see him still humble is great. He is here, working still and giving it his all. He is still earning every pay check."
