A Missouri woman was "minutes away" from throwing a $1million lottery ticket in the bin after it sat idle in her car for two days.
But the anonymous player luckily decided to check her numbers before she discarded the ticket.
After scanning it, she was astonished to discover that she had won the second-top prize worth $1 million (£866,000).
In a statement on September 9, Missouri Lottery said: "A Missouri Lottery player was minutes away from tossing a ticket worth $1million after it sat in her car for two days.
"Luckily, she decided to check the 'Millionaire Blowout' Scratchers game she purchased at 7-Eleven, 6197 Lemay Ferry Road in St. Louis, before doing so."
The winner was quoted as saying: "I stopped at the gas station to check my ticket, just to make sure I wasn't throwing away any winners.
"I scanned the ticket, and it said I won $1 million, visit the Lottery office.
"I couldn't believe this was real."
The statement continued: "Still in disbelief, she scanned the ticket a few more times."
The winner said: "I thought maybe it was wrong, but it kept saying I was a winner.
"I won $1million!"
The statement explained: "' Millionaire Blowout ' is a $50 game that offers prizes from $50 up to $5million.
"The game has $228million remaining in unclaimed prizes, including two top prizes of $5million and 14 additional $1million prizes.
"In FY21, players in St. Louis County won more than $205.8million in Missouri Lottery prizes.
"Retailers in the county received more than $19.8million in commissions and bonuses, and an additional $39.9million went to education programs in the county."
Elsewhere in North America a pet owner was looking to "kill some time" in July while her dog was being examined at the vets and decided to buy a lottery ticket.
Retired Jacqueline Attfield, from Ontario in Canada, won $100,000 (£65,000) in what she described as a "fluke" after playing the lottery for more than 35 years.
These winnings, however, are dwarfed by the ticket that won the Mega Millions jackpot of £1.34billon (£1.1million) from a petrol station in Des Plaines, Illinois during the July 29 draw.
Yet more than a month on, no one has come forward to claim the life-changing prize and if it is not collected by September 27 the winner can only receive the money in 30-yearly payments rather than a lump sum, reports CNBC.
