A South Carolina man got the surprise of a lifetime when he received a phone call claiming he’d won $1 million—but assumed it was a prank. It wasn’t until he called his wife and later walked into the state lottery office that the truth hit home: they were officially millionaires. The Columbia resident had entered the Royal Millions Second-Chance Promotion, where even non-winning scratch-off tickets had a shot at winning big.
Still in disbelief, the couple received their check at the South Carolina Education Lottery’s Claims Center, confirming the life-changing news. The lucky winner said it was more money than he’d ever seen in his life, and he nearly missed it by hanging up the phone too soon. Second-chance drawings like this one are becoming a popular way for lotteries to give players a new shot at big dreams—no matter what their first ticket says. And for this couple, the unexpected fortune turned out to be very, very real.