Man Accidentally Wins $14.3 Million on Lottery
A man in Wisconsin almost did not realize he had won $14.3 million on the lottery Megabucks jackpot after mistakenly thinking he had played a different lottery game.
Napolean Elvord was a regular lottery player at the Kelley Williamson Mobil gas station so when no one claimed the jackpot employees got anxious.
The next day Paul Muchie, 29, of Madison, who sold the winning ticket started to ask questions: "I asked him the next day, 'Were you the big winner?'"
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Elvord claimed it was not him, but after several days without anyone coming forward manager Corky Wunderlin asked again. "He thought it was Wednesday's drawing" that had the multimillion winner, Wunderlin said.
Elvord said he found his ticket from Saturday's drawing on a table at his home. He had mistakenly purchased a Megabucks ticket instead of his usual Powerball ticket, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.
Had it not been for workers at a Madison, Wisconsin, Mobil gas station asking him if he'd won, Elvord may have missed out on collecting his winnings.
In claiming his prize, Elvord opted for the one time lump sum payment of $10.2 million, or $6.87 million after taxes, according to Wisconsin State Journal.
Most people who come in already know they have a winning ticket, explained Michael Edmonds, the lottery's director.
So when he went down to the lottery office and they told him he had won he could not get the thought out of his head.
"It's still going through my head," said Elvord, who chose to get the $10.2 million lump sum payment, which netted him $6.87 million after taxes.
The first priority for Elvord, an ailing veteran, is to get health insurance so that he can get a new kidney after having been on dialysis for the past five years. Then he plans to move back to his native Texas, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
