Man buys lottery tickets after working 12-hour shift. One was a big winner in Kentucky

Soon after finishing his 12-hour shift at work, Troy Kimmel stopped at a convenience store to buy some Kentucky Lottery tickets.

He purchased four “$500 Loaded!” scratch-off tickets from the Eagles VII vending machine, then began scratching the $5 lottery tickets, according to a Feb. 7 news release from the Kentucky Lottery.

The third ticket had the man from Drakesboro in shock.

Kimmel had scratched off a “5X” symbol along with 10 of the “$1,500 prize” symbols — meaning he had won the game’s top $75,000 prize, officials said.

“It took a while to hit me,” he told lottery officials when claiming his prize.

Unsure if he could believe his eyes, Kimmel took his winning ticket to the store owner for confirmation. Sure enough, he had won $75,000.

Kimmel called his wife, who he said had just as hard of a time believing the big win.

“You’re lying,” he recalled her saying.

But he sent her a photo of his lottery ticket, proving he was serious.

Kimmel and his wife recently went to claim the prize, officials said. After taxes, they took home $53,625.

The couple plans to pay bills with the winnings, according to the release.

Drakesboro is about 170 miles southwest of Lexington.

This story was originally published February 12, 2023 at 9:23 AM with the headline "Man buys lottery tickets after working 12-hour shift. One was a big winner in Kentucky."