With all the fuss and fervor over the $1.5 billion Powerball prize, a lottery Scratchers win might seem like an afterthought. But not for the South San Francisco winner, whose $2 million prize comes with a heartfelt bonus.
When Jose Martinez entered a Speedway convenience store in the Peninsula city, he was looking at the vending machine to buy his favorite Scratchers ticket, he told California Lottery officials. Then he spotted a different one that matched the orange color of a bracelet his cancer-stricken wife Rachel wears for leukemia awareness.
"The colors of the bracelet and Scratchers ticket are almost identical," Martinez said. "I had a little extra change, so I went for it. … And thank goodness I did!"
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At first, Martinez was in disbelief when he saw he won the $2 million jackpot on the Instant Prize Crossword ticket. So he used the California Lottery app to scan it and confirm it.
"I’ve never seen so many zeros before," he told the California Lottery. "I texted a screen shot to my wife. She didn’t answer right away, so I called. I could hear her crying."
Rachel's leukemia is now in remission, she told lottery officials, but she says she has to take medication for the rest of her life to prevent recurrence.
According to the lottery, Martinez won $10,000 on a Scratchers game just three months prior. He said then he had a "gut feeling" he was eventually going to hit it big.
