Man learns of lottery luck thanks to dad’s visit

June 25 (UPI) — A Michigan man said he might have never known about his $25,000 a year for life lottery jackpot if his father hadn’t come to visit.

Bhavik Patel, 29, of Kentwood, told Michigan Lottery officials he bought a Lucky for Life ticket from the Speedway gas station in Haslett with the numbers 07-12-20-27-48.

Patel said the ticket for the April 23 drawing sat in a pile of unchecked tickets on his desk for two months until his father came to visit.

“I buy tickets and a lot of times I will forget to check them right away,” Patel said. “My dad was in town visiting recently and saw a pile of tickets on my desk, so he started checking them. If he hadn’t done that, who knows when, or if, I would have found out that I had won.”

Patel visited lottery headquarters Friday and chose to take his prize as an annuity, $25,000 a year for life.

“Knowing I can count on this for the rest of my life gives me such a sense of security,” Patel said.