Grandfather finds $24m lottery ticket in an old shirt, 2 days before expiration

How would it feel if you miss out on becoming a millionaire?

Jimmie Smith from New Jersey found his $24 million lottery ticket in the pocket of an old shirt hanging in his closet.

Smith, 68, bought the lottery ticket in May 2016 but didn’t claim it until a year later.

He checked the ticket two days before the one-year deadline expired, according to the New York Lottery.

The retired security officer, who is a father of two and a grandfather of 12, saw a news segment that alerted him to the Lottery’s efforts in finding a missing Lotto player.

I ended up with a stack; a pile of tickets, including the one they were talking about on the news,” he said.

“I stood there for a minute thinking, ‘Do I see what I think I see?’ I had to stick my head out of the window and breathe in some fresh air. I was in serious doubt. I really had to convince myself this was real.”

Smith said he’s been a consistent lottery buyer since the 1960s, but that he’s never rushed to check if he’s won: “I always told myself, ‘I’ll check them when I have time.”

Smith said he took his time claiming his ticket “to clear out some cobwebs.”

He will receive his $24,100,000 prize in payments over 26 years.

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