Heart Patient Wins $1 Million From Lottery Ticket Included In 'Get Well' Card

A Massachusetts man has won $1 million lottery money from a scratch-off ticket included in a "get well" card a friend gave him after his open-heart surgery.

Alexander McLeish, from Attleborough, was recovering from an open-heart surgery earlier this month when his friend gave him a card with three lottery tickets inside. When he scratched the first three letters on the "Your Letters" box of one of the crossword lottery tickets, it revealed his initials, A, W and M, according to a news release from the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission.

McLeish's luck only got better as he went on to match letters to words on the lottery ticket for the game dubbed, "$5,000,000 100X Cashword." In the end, he won the second-highest prize in the game amounting to $1 million.

According to CNN, there are a total of 10 prize winners for that amount on the $20 lottery ticket, with the first prize being $5 million.

"As if that wasn't enough of a positive omen, the word that appeared on the bottom row of his winning puzzle was 'HEART,'" the news release added.

McLeish claimed his prize from the Mass Lottery headquarters in Dorchester on Nov. 26. He opted for the cash option and received a one-time payment of $650,000 before taxes, according to the news release.

It was the Quickeez Beer, Wine and Convenience store located at 60 North Main St. in Carver that sold the winning ticket. The establishment will receive a $10,000 bonus, according to the news release.

It is unclear if McLeish plans to share the prize money with his friend.

Apparently, this isn't the first time McLeish has been lucky with a ticket that was only given to him. Several years ago, he won a $1,000 prize on a lottery ticket that a friend gifted him for his birthday, reported WWLP.

Last month, a Kentucky nurse bagged the top prize of a lottery game on the first day of her retirement. The woman won $200,000 from a $10 Tree-Mendous Winnings scratch-off ticket. She cashed in around $142,000 after taxes.