$23 Million Lottery Winner Forgot She Had Winning Ticket

A woman in California nearly missed out on $23 million because she forgot that she had purchased a winning lottery ticket.

The Palmdale woman apparently left her ticket, which she purchased last May, in her car and never checked if it had won.

According to the Huffington Post, the woman may have missed out on her chance to claim the $23 million prize if it wasn’t for a photograph published in a local newspaper. The woman’s daughter saw the photo, which was taken from a security camera at the liquor store, and asked her mother if she may have misplaced her winning $23 million ticket.

Lottery spokesman Alex Traverso said:

“She just never checked the ticket … Her daughter took a picture of her photo in the newspaper and sent it to her mother, she went to her car and found the ticket.”

According to the Associated Press, the lottery winner had until November 26 to claim her prize. If the winning ticket was never cashed in, the money would have gone to California schools.

NPR reports that the chances of winning the lottery are about 1 in 175 million. Of course, your chances are much lower if you never check to see if you’re holding the winning ticket.