It’s National Lottery week, a time to celebrate lucky wins, life-changing moments and the stories behind the ticket winners.
And only a few stories tie together hope and hardship quite like the moment former Santa Clarita resident, Armando Vidal, who was homeless in San Luis Obispo before he won the $1 million jackpot in April.
From misfortune to jackpot winner, Vidal won $1 million after deciding to buy two Triple Red777 scratchers at Sandy’s Deli and Liquor, where he was a regular customer. To help safely claim his jackpot, store manager Wilson Samaan accompanied Vidal on his road trip to the California Lottery Office in Fresno.
After moving from Santa Clarita to Santa Maria, Vidal said an injury left him unemployed and then homeless in 2008. Then he decided to move to the central coast to try and restore his living situation.
Off the back of playing the two games on the scratchers, Vidal initially thought he won $200, then $100,000 until after he was chatting and high-fiving Samaan, that he asked him how it felt to win $1 million.
“I was like, huh?” Vidal said. “And that’s how I found out that I’d won a million dollars.”
Vidal is now working to use his winning earnings to secure a home to live in, with a bed, a couple of dogs, and he also plans to invest his prize money to keep the cash flowing. After his win in April, Vidal went viral on an Instagram video, but he plans to keep a low profile in the future.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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