A wife whose husband won a USD 75,000 lottery jackpot thought he was playing a practical joke on a camping trip when he returned to the campsite with champagne.
Lucky Vernon Caldwell – from Lawrenceburg, in the US state of Kentucky – had gone shopping when he bought the winning USD 5 (GBP 4) lottery scratch-off that landed him his USD 75,000 (GBP 64,450) win.
First – he said – he texted his wife with the news but she was asleep and did not respond.
Then he turned up with a huge bottle of bubbly but she still refused to believe him.
He told lottery officials: “We were camping, and I sent my wife a text letting her know, but she was asleep.
“When I came back to the campsite, I brought a big bottle of champagne with me to celebrate.
“My wife didn’t believe it. She just kept saying, ‘You’re lying!’.”
Luckily for both of them, Kentucky Lottery did believe him and told how he had landed the prize with a USD 5 Grillin’ & Chillin’ Scratch-off during a stop at a Valero grocery store in Frankfort.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Kentucky Lottery on Wednesday, 31st May, saying: “After scratching off a Kentucky Lottery Scratch-off, Vernon Caldwell of Lawrenceburg was shocked to find out he won USD 75,000.”
Lottery officials said he claimed his prize on 30th May, at the Kentucky Lottery headquarters, where he pocketed USD 53,625 (GBP 42,798) after taxes.
They added: “The Anderson County man has a lot of ideas on how he wants to spend his winnings but plans on putting the money in the bank for now.”
