Lori Janes' life changed in just seconds during her work Christmas party.
He participated in the secret friend gift and was awarded a $25 card to spend at TJ Maxx.
But a dissatisfied classmate with her gift—lottery tickets—asked her to make an exchange.
Janes agreed to keep the tickets.
Neither of them knew they contained a $175,000 prize.
"I cried again today. My God, it's been emotional," said Janes, who is the manager of a dental clinic in Louisville, Kentucky, when telling The Washington Post about his lucky break.
Janes, 45, was pleased with the gift she got at the secret friend who celebrated her company.
"I'm very happy!", she said when she saw that she had received a gift card for one of her favorite stores.
But one of her classmates "stole" the present, something the game allows you to do if the participants agree to trade.
That's when Janes decided to keep the lottery tickets another coworker named Michelle had brought.
Encouraged by the group, she began to scratch off the cards and discover the hidden prizes:
$20,000, another $20,000, and another $20,000...
[Billion dollar lottery prizes are more common than ever and this makes them harder to win]
"This isn't a joke, is it? Are these real tickets?" she asked Michelle, the woman who had brought the tickets to the party, in disbelief.
He started adding up the total amount with a calculator until someone suggested he scan the tickets in the Kentucky Lottery app to discover his prize: $175,000.
Sweating, trembling, tearful, she called her husband to tell him what had happened.
Unable to drive, he picked her up and together they drove to the state lottery headquarters in Louisville, where
they were confirmed the prize was real and given a check for $124,250 (after taxes).
It is more likely that a meteorite will fall on him, but if he wins the Powerball he can buy the Lakers (or the White House)
Nov 8, 202201:49
The paradox of the evening is that Michelle planned to bring another gift to the company party, but she didn't have time and opted for lottery tickets, one of her favorite pastimes.
According to Janes, her partner always carries dollar scratch-offs to hand out "as a token of appreciation or just to make someone smile who could use one."
On special occasions, like birthdays, she hands out five-dollar tickets.
"He's always had a generous heart," Janes told the Post.
"If you're having a bad day, the next day you'll find a lottery ticket on your desk. If it's your birthday, you'll have a lottery ticket on your desk. It's something he likes to do."
[This man played the lottery with 16 friends for years. One day he didn't pay and they won $800,000: "They stole my dreams"]
The day after winning, they both went out to lunch with their families to celebrate their lucky break.
“We think it's amazing that you've won this and that you can use it with your family,” Michelle told Janes.
They both cried together with joy.
Janes said she will use the money to pay off the family's car loans and her daughter's college fees.