Yahoo Finance Man Recovering from Open Heart Surgery Wins $1M Prize After Getting Lottery Tickets in Get-Well Card
Facebook Alexander McLeish
While recovering from heart surgery, a Massachusetts man received what ended up being a $1 million card from a friend.
After undergoing double-bypass heart surgery last month, Alexander McLeish's childhood pal Larry got him a get-well card and included three instant lottery tickets, according to the Boston Herald.
Right from the start, there was something special about his winning ticket.
As he began to scratch the "Your Letters" area, McLeish first revealed the letters A, W and M, which are his initials, according to a press release from the Massachusetts State Lottery.
To make things even more personal, the word he revealed on the bottom row was "heart."
He ended up winning the second-top prize for the $5,000,000 100X Cashword instant ticket game, in which players earn more money for how many complete words they find, per CNN.
Before McLeish shared the good news, he made sure his eyes weren't playing tricks.
"We double-checked it, triple-checked and quadruple-checked it," McLeish told the Boston Herald. "It was a little bit of disbelief at first but then it settled in and it was like, wow, I can't believe this happened, you know?"
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
McLeish, who last week claimed his prize — a one-time payment of $650,000 before taxes — said this isn't the first prize he's won from a scratch-off ticket, according to the Massachusetts State Lottery.
As fate would have it, McLeish won a $1,000 prize several years thanks to the very same friend, who got him a ticket as a birthday gift.
As a bonus for selling the winning ticket this time around, the Quickeez Beer, Wine and Convenience Store in Carver will receive a $10,000 bonus, per the state lottery's press release.
RELATED: Michigan Man Wins Two $1 Million Prizes After Accidentally Buying an Extra Lotto Ticket
As for what he's going to go with the money, McLeish doesn't plan on using it all on himself.
He told the Boston Herald that he will give some to his children as well as Larry — and fund a trip to the Bahamas that he had booked before the big win.
