BALTIMORE, MD—A 47-year-old Eastern Shore man is glad he stopped to cash a $50 winning Maryland Lottery scratch-off earlier this week. That smaller win led to a much bigger prize of $1 million.

The construction worker was on his way to work on Monday when he quickly stopped at the Safeway in Pasadena. He had a scratch-off he wanted to scan and it turned out to be a $50 winner. The lucky player used his win to purchase two $20 scratch-offs, including a $1 Million Royale ticket, and one $10 scratch-off. He rushed off to work, not looking at his tickets until later.

When the big winner was on his way home, he stopped to get gas and decided to scratch his three games. The Caroline County man said he “almost fell over” after revealing the top prize on the $1 Million Royale ticket.

“The first game was a $55 winner, and I was pretty happy about that,” said the Denton resident. “No win on the second, but that third ticket almost gave me a heart attack.”

The lucky player immediately called his girlfriend to share the news.

“I was stuttering that I hit and she thought I was saying that I was in a car accident,” he chuckled. “She said, ‘hit what, what did you hit’.”

Later at home, the big winner showed her exactly what he hit and they celebrated. Once they calmed down, the father and grandfather locked his ticket in a safe. He claimed the prize today.

The Eastern Shore man shared that he will buy new vehicles for both he and his girlfriend and will save the rest of his winnings.

Photo via Pexels