Good Deed Sees MD Man Become Millionaire

ODENTON-SEVERN, MD —An act of kindness during a routine trip to the grocery store recently led to a Severn man becoming an overnight millionaire.

According to the Maryland Lottery, Ryan, who did not disclose his full name, claimed a $1 million prize from the Maryland Lottery thanks to scratch-off tickets he received from a woman he allowed to go ahead of him in line at Walmart.

Thanking Ryan for his kindness, the woman gave him two $10 scratch-offs, one of which turned out to be a $50 winner. Wanting to stretch his luck a bit more, Ryan took a stab at using those winnings to buy two million-dollar Crossword scratch-offs.

As it turned out, one of these tickets revealed a $1 million top prize.

Ryan said he knew he'd won a large sum of money after the Maryland Lottery vending machine returned a "see lottery" message. He claimed his winnings Feb. 25 at the Lottery headquarters in Baltimore.

Incidentally, Ryan had been in the store to also redeem a winning scratch-off that was worth $500.

The Walmart Ryan won his ticket from is located at 407 George Clauss Blvd. It will receive a $1,000 bonus from the Maryland Lottery.

The win comes as Ryan and his fiancée are planning their wedding in a few weeks. They plan to use some of the winnings to purchase new cars.

Maryland Lottery said in a release that the win marks the first top prize claimed for the $1,000,000 Crossword scratch-offs, which only cost interested buyers $25. As of Feb. 26, three $1 million prizes remain unclaimed.