A pair of Illinois friends on their way to a doctor’s appointment stopped for a lottery ticket and ended up winning a $350,000 jackpot.
A pair of Illinois friends on their way to a doctor’s appointment stopped for a lottery ticket and ended up winning a $350,000 jackpot.
The Ashton residents, a pair of longtime friends and coworkers named April and Randy, told Illinois Lottery officials Randy was taking his wife to a doctor’s appointment when they stopped at the Jewel-Osco on East Roosevelt Road in West Chicago and bought a Quick Pick ticket for the Jan. 7 Lucky Day Lotto evening drawing.
“We were at the right place at the right time,” Randy said.
Randy and April have a longstanding agreement to split any lottery winnings. Their ticket ended up winning the $350,000 Lucky Day Lotto jackpot.
“We were in total disbelief,” April said. “At first, Randy thought we’d only won $350 and joked about buying more tickets. When I checked the app and saw it was $350,000, everything changed.”
“People always told us, ‘You’re never going to win,'” Randy said. “But we’d laugh and say, ‘One day we’ll hit it.'”
They said the attitudes of their coworkers have changed.
“Everyone at work started giving us high fives and congratulating us,” April said.
The duo said their plans for the winnings include property investments, retirement savings and a vacation.
“My wife wants to go to Ireland,” Randy said. “But since I don’t fly, I might be getting a tattoo instead.”
