Virginia

Woman Wins $110K in Lottery After Retrieving Ticket She'd Thrown Away

When Mary Elliott did find the ticket, some barcode-blocking coffee stains added another potential hurdle to claiming her prize

Virginia Lottery

A Buckingham County, Virginia woman is lucky she realized a potentially big mistake before trash day.

When Mary Elliot realized that the winning numbers for the Cash 5 with EZ Matchย game she'd played were her numbers -- important birthdates she'd chosen to play, she went running for the trash can to dig out the ticket that had been thrown away.

She found the winning ticket, but was almost stymied again when coffee stains prevented the barcode from being read when she tried to verify that she'd really won.

Fortunately, lottery officials were able to confirm her $110,000 win.

โ€œWhen I saw Iโ€™d won, I couldnโ€™t stop shaking to save my life!โ€ she said, according to a Virginia Lottery statement.

The odds of matching all five numbers to win the jackpot in the Cash5 with EZ Match are 1 in 749,398, according to the Lottery.

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