Personally, I enjoy the odd scratch card. The joy of revealing the rules of the game then finally, if I win the prize itself. It's a quick bit of excitement that can change yourself in an instant. You can always play online scratch cards, but if you ask me they are not the same. Sure, they are still fun, but the real-world ones are behind all of these ten short stories below, because sometimes the story behind the win is often more interesting than the win itself...
Loose Change
While most people will give homeless people the odd coin or small handful of loose change an old lady gave four young homeless people each a scratch card. With 3 non-winners they had all but given up hope until they revealed a €25,000 price. As if that wasn't amazing enough the card had a "double" feature which they also won making the prize €50,000! While there is no further information on whether or not that money changed their lives I can only imagine €12,500 each will buy them a lot of happiness. While they did have every intension to give some of the €50,000 winnings back to the old lady no-one knew where she lived or who she was.
Litter Bug
Over in the small town of Ballinamore in the Republic of Ireland was a woman who was getting annoyed at someone constantly throwing losing scratch cards over her fence. It would happen at nights and was presumed to be someone coming home from a night shift. But she was a lot less annoyed when she realised one of those discarded scratches had a €100,000 winning prize on it! While she had to wait a whole year before she could claim the prize (because she had to give the original buyer a chance to claim it) no-one stepped up so she was rewarded it!
Waiting Impatiently
Herbert Scruggs, from Richmond, Virginia was being a good son and waiting for his mum to finish her shopping in the local supermarket. Due to the current covid pandemic queues were a lot longer than usual so after a long while waiting patiently he went inside to check on her and decided to test his luck with a scratch card. Yes, of course he won, but not by a small amount, he won a very impatient $200,000!
The Smal Gift of Hope
A care worker from Bridgwater in Somerset (UK) was sadly so skint that she couldn't afford to buy her husband a proper birthday gift. The good news is he was understanding about this situation and they decided to purchase a small scratch card each as a bit of hope and cheer. That little bit of hope turned into a £300,000 win! Oddly she admits that she was going to get him some cans to drink, but because he was supposed to be working the next day she changed her mind.
An Angel Looking Down
A woman from Aldershot, Hampshire (UK) was kitting small angel mascots for NHS key workers during the covid pandemic and in exchange for some of these wooly angels, someone gave her a scratch card as she wouldn't take any money for them. After winning £1,000,000 from the single scratch card she vowed to give a large portion of it to a charity which apparently she did! Talk about someone looking down on you.
Always Eat Your Greens
A woman from Romford, east London (UK) had done what we have all done in the past at some point and forgot to get one single thing from the local supermarket. That one thing was broccoli for the Sunday dinner. But while she got this single forgotten item she also purchased a scratch card that turned out to be a £1 million winner! If she had not instead on having broccoli for dinner she would never have known! It seems our mums were right when they tell us to eat our vegetables.
The Turning of Age
Here in the UK you need to be at least 16 before you can buy a scratch card. One boy (now a man) from the rather fortunate town name of Dungiven in Northern Ireland waited until he was 16 and purchased a single scratch card from the local newsagent. Yes of course, that scratch card won him an instant €1 million. He brought the scratch card after asking his mum what he could do when he turned 16 and getting a scratching or playing the lottery was one of those things she suggested!
Find a Penny, Pick it up!
Have you heard of the old saying "Find a penny, pick it up. All day long, you'll have good luck"? Well, that was certainly true for a Porstmouth man who noticed a single £1 coin on the floor. Taking it as a sign of luck he then went and purchase a single £1 scratch card which then won him an instant £100,000! Talk about good luck indeed. I may never take my eyes off the pavement after reading this!
What Are the Odds?
When a southeastern Michigan(US) man won a massive $4 million in 2017 from a single scratch card he thought it was the win of a lifetime, but it turns out his lifetime is twice as lucky as he won another $4 million from the same card in 2020! The odds of this happening are thought to be billions to one, but yet fate has a strange way of making the impossible happen. To be fair he has at least given a large portion of the 2nd win to various local charities.
More Than Lucky To Be Alive
A man from Melbourne, Australia had a dramatic turn around of events as he was in a coma with the Doctors seriously considering turning off his life support. But then, just 12 days after that terrible low in his life his health dramatically (and mysteriously) improved, he then decided to marry his long term girlfriend, he then won $135,000 on a single scratch card and even won $50,000 on the lottery not just once, but twice! I have heard of people turning their lives around, but this is something else!
I have to say I enjoy reading little stories like this as they do give me a bit of cheer and hope, so I also hope they have done the same for you reading them.