Homeless man thought he won $200 in lottery ticket—store manager’s one question resulted in a baffling revelation
To lose everything and be forced to become homeless is a tragedy no one should have to go through. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many like Armando Vidal, PEOPLE reported. After an injury in 2008, the man lost his job and was forced to live on the streets. He went through his struggles for nearly a decade but never lost his heart and spirit. His goodness helped him find many well-wishers, but unfortunately, no luck in changing his life. When he purchased a lottery ticket in April, he, like many others, hoped to hit the jackpot. He thought he had won $200 and rushed to the store, Sandy’s Deli & Liquor in San Luis Obispo, where he got it from, to confirm his win. The manager, Wilson Samaan, asked him one question that left him shocked.
There was no clarification on how hard things were for them, but Vidal and his wife had been living on the streets for a long time, a video from a local store, @thrifty.beaches, revealed. He was doing everything in his power to make ends meet and also to change his life. This included trying his luck with the lottery. Vidal purchased two $5 scratch tickets in hopes of winning something. When he scratched them off, he thought he won $200 from one ticket. When he looked to understand better, he thought the amount was $100,000, KSBY News reported. He wasn’t sure if he could believe it; the big amount meant something hopeful.
Unsure how to figure it out, he approached Samaan at the store to understand how to redeem the cash if it was a win. "He came to the store, he scratched it, and was like, 'Oh, my god. Is that real? Wilson, can you come and take a look?’" the homeless man recalled. He was met with one question that left him shocked. According to the California Lottery press release, Samaan asked, “What are you going to do with a million dollars?” Taken aback by his words, the homeless man didn’t know how to respond. “He's like, '$100,000,' and I'm like, 'No, bro. That's $1 million. Congrats, brother',” Samaan delightedly revealed.
Vidal was still at a loss for words. “I was like, huh? And that’s how I found out that I’d won a million dollars,” he recalled. Fate had finally shone its light, and Vidal and his wife were a few steps away from a renewed life. Samaan was delighted for his trusted longtime customer. He knew he had to do everything to help get the money as soon as possible. Vidal asked him how to go about the process. “Do I want to send it in the mail?” he inquired. “That's a million-dollar ticket. No, I will drive you,” Samaan replied. He took him to the lottery office and helped him with the procedure, and three months later, Vidal knows exactly how to use this money.
“Vidal is working to secure a place to go home to, with a bed and a couple of dogs, and he also plans to invest his winnings to keep the money coming in,” the press release read. The Thrifty Beaches store made his win viral and congratulated Vidal, saying, “This man and his wife have been on the street for a long time. I'm so happy for both of them!” “I just can’t wait to get off the streets,” Vidal said of his life-changing turnaround.
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