Man Loses $1M Powerball Ticket That Expires Without Hung Nguyen Cashing It In [Video]

Plenty of folks dream about winning a big payday via a Powerball lottery drawing that would allow them to quit their day jobs — or even a smaller Powerball jackpot winning ticket that would pay off all their debts. Imagine winning a $1 million Powerball lottery, only to discover you’ve lost the winning ticket. That’s what Hung Nguyen experienced, a man who works as a humble mechanic — and thought that the storeowner of the place that sold Nguyen his winning Powerball ticket in California was joking when he told Hung that he was the winner of a $1 million, KCAL/KCBS reports.

Having purchased the winning ticket six months ago, Hung said through a translator that Nguyen had taken a trip to Vietnam in the interim, and when he returned to the United States to discover that photos of his face were plastered all over the news via surveillance tapes showing Hung purchasing the winning $1 million Powerball ticket, he was delighted to think he’d be able to use the money to take care of his family. Alas, Nguyen’s luck took a downturn when he discovered that he’d misplaced the winning ticket — and that the Powerball rules stated that in order for a winner to collect the money, they have to have an actual ticket. The surveillance footage showing Nguyen purchasing the winning ticket wouldn’t be enough to suffice for him to collect his $1 million winnings.

The expiration date for Hung to find his ticket and collect his winnings passed, with the Powerball ticket expiring. The story is especially disheartening because Hung works his long, full-time hours in order to support his wife and their 16-month-old baby, reports CBS.

In a CNN video, Hung can be seen speaking through his interpreter about his disappointment at not being able to find his winning ticket in time enough to benefit from the $1 million win. It’s due to cases like this that California lottery officials are urging lottery players to immediately sign their lottery tickets purchased and keep them in a safe place. These days, plenty of state lottery games offer online apps that allow users to immediately scan their tickets after the winning numbers are announced, so that they can easily check to see if they hold winning tickets.

Hung joins the legacy of Powerball winners whose wins have caused buzz. As reported by the Inquisitr, Marie Holmes made the news when she vowed to pay her tithes first with her huge Powerball winnings.

[Image via CNN]