Man who had open-heart surgery wins a $1 million lottery prize after the ticket came in a get-well card

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by DizzyDrunkDude

(CNN) A Massachusetts man recovering from open-heart surgery won a $1 million lottery prize on a scratch-off ticket given to him by a friend, according to lottery officials.

Alexander McLeish received three scratch-off tickets in a get-well card from a friend earlier this month, according to a news release from the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission.

As McLeish scratched off the first three letters on the crossword lottery ticket, his first glimpse of good luck was revealing his initials: A, W and M. As he continued matching letters to words on the lottery ticket, for a game called $5,000,000 100X Cashword, he revealed the word "heart" on the bottom row of the puzzle.

The man wound up winning the second top prize for the game -- $1 million . There are only 10 total prize winners for that amount on the $20 lottery ticket. The top prize is $5 million.

The first sign of good luck on the prize-winning ticket were McLeish's initials as the first three letters.

This wasn't the first time McLeish won on a ticket given to him by his friend. Several years ago, he won $1,000 on a lottery ticket his friend gave him for his birthday, according to lottery officials.

BeerPoweredNonsense on December 1st, 2021 at 13:52 UTC »

I think if it was me opening that ticket I'd be at risk of a heart attack.

At least I'd be in the right place.

Kuli24 on December 1st, 2021 at 13:45 UTC »

Wins $1m prize, which he wanted the cash option of $650,000, which after tax is what $400,000? So after the surgery, he likely has $200,000 or so to play with, correct?

Peachmuffin91 on December 1st, 2021 at 12:35 UTC »

I wonder if the person who bought it for him is happy.