The phenomenon of the lottery is certainly an interesting one.
People flock to the counters to place small bets quickly, the whole process often taking no longer than a minute.
Yet, the odds are stacked against them – in the ever-famous Powerball, participants have a mere 1 in 292 million chance of winning the biggest jackpot by getting six out of six numbers correct.
Still, the draw to the lottery is irresistible.
Besides, it’s one of the most minor and most harmless forms of gambling, and it costs just around $2 to buy a ticket and fill in your numbers of choice.
For the excitement, sheer hope, and just for the fun of it, there’s nothing wrong in indulging in a few whims now and then!
This is something Earl Livingston, a resident of Blackwood, New Jersey who is 87 years old, knows very well!
One fine day, he decided to go out on a walk to a nearby convenience store in order to purchase a Mega Millions lotto ticket.
Naturally, he hoped that the day would be his lucky day!
But it was not to be. On his way there, Earl took a nasty fall and ended up breaking his hip.
He had to be taken to the Jefferson Stratford Hospital and he was in excruciating pain.
Worse still, he hadn’t even been able to buy his lottery ticket, meaning he may have just lost out on the chance to be a millionaire!
Earl mentioned to staff about how upset he felt about this accident and how it had cheated him out of his lottery ticket.
Staff sympathized with Earl, who genuinely believed that there was a good chance he’d lost out on a winning ticket because of his fall.
As such, the hospital decided to add his name to the staff’s long-running lottery pool, which also had the names of 141 members of staff.
After all, surely adding just one extra person wouldn’t hurt!
Soon, Earl’s niece arrived to visit her uncle.
For someone in pain and injured, he seemed very happy, and he couldn’t wait to tell her some incredible news!
When she first heard it, his niece was a little perplexed and wondered if his pain medications were a little heavy.
But as it turned out, it wasn’t the pain medication – it was real!
It just so happened that that particular week, the hospital was won an over $1 million prize in the lottery!
Because Earl’s name had been added to the list, he was entitled to a hefty portion of that sum.
Earl was so thrilled that he couldn’t stop thanking everyone and expressing his gratitude.
Although he is still awaiting a hip replacement now, it’s safe to say that Earl is pretty happy!
His accident no longer has him down in the dumps.
When he left to buy a ticket the morning of the mishap, he’d figured it was his lucky day – and he was right!
The day won him the lottery, albeit in a rather unusual way!