Lucky bump: The incredible story of California woman who won $10 million in the lottery by accident

Sometimes, life’s biggest wins come from the most unexpected turn of events. For Californian housewife LaQuedra Edwards, a trip to the grocery store started out badly, but her frustration soon turned to disbelief, then pure joy.

Wrong ticket turns out to be the right one

Back in November 2021, Edwards walked into a Vons supermarket in Tarzana, Los Angeles County, planning to spend $40 on her usual low-cost lottery games. As always, the errand was to buy four tickets for $10 each.

But as she stood at the vending machine, a fellow shopper accidentally bumped into her, causing her to press the wrong button, leaving her instead with a $30 Super bonus scratcher—a ticket she says she would never have chosen on purpose.

“He just bumped into me, didn’t say a thing and just walked out the door,” Edwards recalled in a statement released by the California Lottery.

At first she was annoyed, not just by the stranger’s rudeness but also having spent most of her budget on a ticket she didn’t want.

Once back in her car, and having calmed down, she scratched numbers on the card. That’s when everything changed. She’d won the game’s top prize - $10 million.

From shock to celebration

“I didn’t really believe it at first, but I got on the 405 Freeway and kept looking down at (the ticket) and I almost crashed my car,” she explained. “I pulled over, looked at it again and again, scanned it with my (California Lottery mobile) app and I just kept thinking, ‘This can’t be right.’ I’m still in shock. All I remember saying once I found out how much I just won was, ‘I’m rich!’”

What accidental millionaire did with her winnings

Edwards said that she would use her winnings to buy a home and start a nonprofit organization to help others but has declined further media interviews.

And the Vons store where Edwards unintentionally became a millionaire also benefitted from her good fortune - it received a $500,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.

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