Before you cringe this story has a happy ending, thankfully!

The Michigan Lottery website says that 59-year-old Jeff Henig of Harrison (Clare County) bought a Lucky for Life ticket a week ago and then threw it in the garbage after thinking it was a loser. Thankfully, he was able to recover it before it was too late. So how did the mixup happen? Henig told lottery officials that he checked the numbers on the website before the actual drawing happened.

I was back on the website Friday, and the Lucky For Life numbers caught my eye. They were the numbers I always play, and that’s when it hit me...

He searched the entire house before finally digging through the trash and finding it. He and his wife then went to claim their prize this past Monday. Instead of taking the $25K a year for life, they instead took the one-time payout for $390K.

Now that the Henigs plan on paying bills, taking a vacation and sharing some of the money with family.

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