Homeless Man's Life Changes After Winning $1 Million Lottery: "He Deserves It," Praise Pours In Across U.S.

Purchased Lottery Ticket at Store Where He Was a Longtime Regular
Built Years-Long Friendship with Store Manager

A homeless man in California has become the lucky winner of $1 million (approximately 1.4 billion KRW) after winning a scratch-off lottery ticket.

According to the Los Angeles Times and other sources, the homeless man, identified as A, purchased a $5 Triple Red 777 scratch-off ticket earlier this month at Sandis Deli Liquor, a liquor store in San Luis Obispo, California. He ended up winning $1 million. After his win, A expressed his overwhelming joy, saying, "I can finally get off the streets."

A banner announcing a $1 million lottery win is hung in front of Sandis Deli Liquor. Screenshot from social media (SNS)

The person who celebrated A's win as if it were his own was Wilson Saman, the manager of the store that sold the winning ticket. In an interview with local media, Saman described A as "a longtime regular and a homeless man." Saman recounted, "He scratched the ticket in the store and was amazed, saying, 'Oh my God, is this real?' At first, he thought he had won $100,000. So I told him, 'No, it's $1 million,' and we high-fived," recalling the moment.

Saman had developed a close relationship with A over several years. He trusted A enough to ask him to watch the store when he had to step out briefly. Saman even offered A a job, but A had to decline because a knee injury prevented him from performing essential physical tasks like stocking shelves or refrigerators. Saman described A as "a very good and trustworthy person."

Saman went so far as to drive A himself to the California Lottery office to have the win verified, since A did not have a car. "He was thinking about mailing in the ticket, so I took him there myself," Saman explained. A shared that he plans to use his winnings to first buy a house and a car in the Central Coast region, and will invest and save the remainder.

The store that sold the winning ticket will receive $5,000, which is 0.5% of the prize money. Saman, who has worked at the store since 2013, said this was the first time he had seen such a large win. The store posted a photo of the winning ticket on Instagram to celebrate their regular customer's good fortune. Saman said, "He is truly a good person and deserves this luck. I am so happy that something like this happened to someone who really deserved it. He truly needed help." Saman added, "A said he won't waste the second chance he has been given as a gift."

It can take anywhere from several weeks to several months for the prize money to be paid out. The odds of winning $1 million with the Triple Red 777 scratch-off ticket that A purchased are 1 in 2,047,423.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.