This mother accidentally bought a lottery ticket. And it won

A mum was doing some shopping in a Manhattan convenience store when she asked the shop assistant for a $1 New York Lottery scratch card ticket.

Oksana Zaharov, 46, from New Jersey was accidentally handed a more expensive $10 Set For Life ticket.

She told the New York Lottery:

When the clerk handed me the wrong ticket I felt bad, so I decided to just go ahead and buy it.

But the mother of two didn’t get round to scratching the ticket straight away.

She said:

I actually used the ticket as a bookmark for a couple of weeks before I decided to scratch it.

When Ms Zaharov checked the ticket it was revealed she won $5 million.

And she couldn't believe her luck:

I never win anything,

I was sure the ticket was fake.

It wasn’t until I brought it into the office that I knew it was for real.

Ms Zaharov's winnings will be distributed in payments of about $180,000 over 20 years.

She said she will celebrate with a big family holiday in the Bahamas, and that she’s excited her children will benefit from her luck.

She said:

They will have a loan-free college education.

HT North Jersey