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Incredible twist after man loses $1.5 million lottery ticket

A lottery winner is counting his lucky stars after briefly losing a winning ticket worth over $1.5 million.

Nick Slattern, from the US state of Tennessee, already had luck on his side after stopping on the way home for a drink and a lottery ticket on March 10. He woke the next day to find out he had won a whopping $1.5 million (USD $1,178,746).

“I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it,” Mr Slatten said in a statement reported by NBC.

“I can’t express it. It was something else.”

US Mega Millions lotto tickets at an agency
After stopping on the way home for a drink and a lottery ticket, a lucky man woke the next day to find out he had won about $1.5 million dollars. Source: Getty

The new millionaire decided to drive to his fiancée’s work and give her the good news in person.

After celebrating their new fortune, Mr Slattern continued on with his day running errands and taking his brother shopping at an auto parts store.

About an hour later he realised he had lost the winning ticket.

Mr Slattern went into a panic, telling Tennessee Lottery Officials he “couldn’t find it anywhere”.

Nick Slattern (right) collects his winning lottery prize
Nick Slattern (on the right) briefly lost his winning lottery ticket. Source: Tennessee Education Lottery/Getty

Mr Slattern had purchased the ticket on a whim and hadn’t registered it, so all he could do was retrace his steps.

For the second time that day, luck was on his side and Mr Slattern found the ticket lying on the ground by another car outside of the auto parts store he had taken his brother to earlier that day.

“It’s a million-dollar ticket, and someone stepped right over it,” Mr Slatten said.

The very happy Mr Slattern said he and his fiancée will continue to work but he plans to buy a new house, a car and invest some of the winnings.

He told NBC he hopes to live his life with “not a whole lot of worries”.

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