An Unexpected Meeting with Grandma Leads to a $1 Million Powerball Win for Illinois Man

A Chance Encounter Turns Into A Million Dollar Win

Imagine stepping into a local store for an ordinary errand, bumping into your grandmother, and walking out as a millionaire. This is exactly what happened to one fortunate man from Illinois. He claims that his unexpected run-in with his grandmother brought him extraordinary luck, leading to his $1 million Powerball win.

The Story Behind The Lucky Day

The man, who chose to remain anonymous and adopted the moniker "Grandma is my Lucky Charm!" had initially planned on buying a lottery ticket after noticing that the Powerball jackpot had reached a staggering $240 million. His destination was the Road Ranger on East Highway 38 in Rochelle. Little did he know that this trip would turn out to be anything but ordinary.

"On reaching the store, I spotted a car identical to my grandma’s," the winner narrated to Lottery staff, "To my surprise, it was her car indeed! And there she was right by the cash register, checking out." The random meeting with his beloved family member ignited a feeling of luck within him.

His grandmother rushed over and gave him a warm hug. Carrying this newfound sense of luck, he purchased his ticket for the Oct. 11 drawing later that evening. Astonishingly, he matched all five white ball numbers – 13, 16, 18, 20, and 27 – missing only the red Powerball number 10. He even snagged an extra $4 on another line. "When I scanned the ticket, it read, 'You won $1,000,004.' I was in utter disbelief, so I scanned it again. That was when I started screaming and hyperventilating," he reminisced.

His first instinct was to call his grandmother. Her initial response was one of skepticism as she asked him if he was certain about his win. To confirm, he manually checked the numbers online, and sure enough, everything matched except for the Powerball number.

Sharing The Win

Now that he's claimed his winnings, the lucky man plans to share his good fortune with his lucky charm - his grandma. "I'm definitely sharing some of this with my grandma," he declared in a press release. "She's my good luck charm! And I'm also going to buy myself a brand-new car."

The store that sold the winning ticket also had reason to celebrate as they received a $10,000 bonus from the Lottery, equating to 1% of the prize amount. The Powerball annuity jackpot estimate for the drawing on Saturday, Nov. 29 is now standing at an impressive $719 million.