Boston man buys chicken and a lottery ticket on way home and wins $500,000

Next time you're out shopping, don't forget to grab a lottery ticket you might just strike it lucky like South Boston resident Russell Gomes.

After finishing work, Gomes went into the Food Lion on Halifax Road in South Boston to buy some chicken and decided to try his luck with a Magnificent 7s lottery ticket. To his surprise, he scratched off the ticket in the car park to discover he'd won the whopping $500,000 top prize.

"I really didn't believe it," Gomes shared told Virginia Lottery officials. "It feels great! " He plans to use his windfall to fund a dream vacation.

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In another stroke of fortune last week, a South Carolina lottery winner was so overwhelmed they thought they were having a heart attack upon winning the jackpot. The anonymous grandad from the Midlands had splurged $10 on a scratch-off ticket and bagged himself an eye-watering $300,000, describing his win as "fun."

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He was so surprised he thought he was suffering a heart attack scare. But, he said it turned into "a wonderful feeling in the end" once he realized he'd won the lottery. The chuffed punter snagged the hefty Cash Payout ticket at the AMPM Food Mart on Hard Scrabble Road, near Clemson Road, in Columbia, according to the lottery , reports the Mirror US .

For selling the winning ticket, the shop pocketed a tidy $3,000 commission.

Gomes said he bought the ticket in the morning but held off until the evening to get scratching. He said the experience of winning the lottery is "weird and crazy".

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While he kept quiet on his plans for splashing the cash, he did say he will give some of the winnings to his grandchildren.

The chance of winning the top prize of $300,000 in the Cash Payout game is one-in-984,000.

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