94-year-old veteran nearly tosses out winning lottery ticket, wins millions

HAPPY VALLEY, Ore. (WISH) — A fortune worth millions was nearly tossed in the trash in Oregon.

The close call happened to 94-year-old William Bowker, an Air Force veteran.

Bowker plays the lottery often, and his granddaughter recently checked his latest ticket.

She mistakenly thought it was a Mega Millions ticket, but it was a Megabucks ticket, so the numbers she checked were wrong.

Turns out Bowker had a lucky winner but he didn’t realize it until he decided to double check his numbers before throwing the ticket away.

To his amazement, he hit on all the winning numbers and the jackpot was $6.5 million.

Bowker took home a hefty sum, after taxes, of $2.2 million.

He said at 94 he has what he needs, but he’s happy to be able to help his family.

CNN contributed to this report.