13 January 2023 , 14:33
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A man has offered half of his $50,000 (£41,000) lottery earnings to a co-worker after she checked his tickets for him.
Michael Winfield, from Maryland, won the generous amount in a December drawing and instead of keeping it to himself, he was keen to return the favour to his colleague.
The 58-year-old construction firm boss stopped to buy $10 (£8) worth of lottery tickets on his way home after visiting a construction site.
In a statement by Maryland State Lottery, Winfield was quoted as saying: "I only tend to buy tickets when I notice the jackpots start really climbing.
"Mega Millions was up in the $400 million range, so I stopped at a 7-Eleven on the way home from a work site.
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The 7-Eleven store in Kensington, Maryland, where Michael Winfield purchased the lucky tickets (Newsflash)Maryland State Lottery said: "While at 7-Eleven #11590 at 10594 Metropolitan Avenue in Kensington, he bought Mega Millions tickets in hopes of winning a $429 million prize in the Dec. 16 drawing and purchased $10 worth of quick-pick Powerball tickets for the Dec. 17 drawing.
"It wasn’t until several days later that Michael learned that Lottery luck had found him."
Winfield described how he found out about his wins, and how it came down to splitting the money with his co-worker.
He said: "A co-worker of mine was about to head out to a nearby store to get some lunch.
"I asked her to check several Lottery tickets I’d had in my wallet while she was there."
He noted he wasn't expecting to win and he wanted to return the much-appreciated favour to her, as his work "leaves him very little time for fun and games".
Maryland State Lottery noted: "With no expectation of a win and motivated by gratitude to her for the favour, the Carroll County resident sent her off with, 'I’ll split the winnings with you.'"
The lucky winning ticket was among the first that Winfield's co-worker scanned and she immediately called him to tell the exciting news.
However, she couldn't reach him immediately, so returned to the office to break the news in person, which he couldn't believe at first.
Winfield explained: "My phone happened to not be working that day, so when she called with the news she couldn’t reach me.
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"When we finally got together at the office she was so excited….and I was just in disbelief."
Asked if he regretted his promise and if he considered keeping the prize, Michael replied: "Not for a second. My word is my word."
The story comes only a few days after an 18-year-old, again from Maryland, was gifted a $3 (£2.50) Peppermint Payout scratchcard by her parents and won an impressive $30,000 (£25,000) jackpot.
Her parents purchased a cheap lottery scratchcard as a stocking filler and, when she woke up, she opened up her stocking and scratched her three cards, to reveal winnings of $1 (80p), $2 (£1.65) and $30,000 (£25,000).
The college student was delighted to discover she had won on all three - especially the jackpot. She said: "It was shocking and a weird feeling. It was surreal."