A homeless man was told by a store worker his life had changed in the blink of an eye after winning a huge sum of money.
Armando Vidal had been living on the streets for almost two decades since an injury put him out of work in Santa Maria, California, in 2008.
Since then, he relocated to San Luis Obispo where he became a regular face in the area – and the store where he picked up California Lottery’s Triple Red 777 Scratchers tickets.
Initially, Armando thought he had won $200, but has probably never been happier to have been wrong.
The-then homeless man took his winning scratch cards that he had paid just $10 for into Sandy’s Deli & Liquor in San Luis Obispo in April to collect his prize when the store manager Wilson Samaan revealed the truth.
According to NBC Los Angeles, Armando then believed he had won $100,000 and was chatting and high-fiving Wilson, when the manager asked him a simple question that almost floored him.
Handling the golden ticket, Wilson asked Armando: “What are you going to do with a million dollars?”
The man then recalled: “I was like, ‘huh?’ And that’s how I found out that I’d won a million dollars,” as per a California Lottery press release.
Wilson kindly took Armando to Fresno to visit the California Lottery office to verify and claim his winnings.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times at the time, Wilson, who has worked in the liquor store since 2013, said his long-standing customer ‘deserves every penny.’
“I was so excited — even more than him,” he said. “He’s a good person, he deserves every penny.
“I was very excited it happened to a person who deserved it, and he actually needed it.”
Also recalling the special moment, Wilson said: “He’s like, ‘Wilson, come over here, is that true, is that real?’
“I scanned it and I’m like, ‘Bro, you hit the jackpot!’”
Now, the millionaire has revealed how he will splash the cash that he’s been awarded from buying the two $5 scratch cards.
“Vidal is working to secure a place to go home to, with a bed, a couple of dogs, and he also plans to invest his winnings to keep the money coming in,” the California Lottery revealed in its release.
“After his win went viral in April, Vidal also plans to keep a much lower profile in the future.”
He told local store Thrifty Beaches while clutching his winning ticket: “I just can’t wait to get off the streets.”
Apparently bagging the $1 million jackpot via the Triple Red 777 game is extremely slim odds, at around one in 2047 million.
Sandy’s Liquor Store has also been award half a percent, around $5,000, for selling the winning ticket.