Michigan Woman Has Lottery Ticket For 6 Weeks Before Realizing She Won $1M

Imagine six weeks going by and not noticing that you are in possession of a million-dollar lottery ticket. Eileen Wickett, 60, of Northville had a Powerball ticket for six weeks before realizing she had won a one-million-dollar prize.

She bought her winning ticket online at MichiganLottery.com and matched the five white balls in the Feb. 6 drawing. Wickett said that she always plays the same sets of numbers and uses the subscription feature so that she doesn't miss a drawing. "I saw an email from the Lottery informing me I'd won a prize, but it didn't say how much I'd won so I assumed it was a few dollars," she said in a news release.

Since the lucky lottery winner has a subscription, her tickets are automatically purchased. She didn't log on to her account for a while, and it took her several weeks to notice that she had won. "It wasn’t until six weeks after I'd won that I logged into my account and saw a $1 million prize pending," said Wickett. "It was such an awesome feeling! I called my kids right away to tell them the good news."

Recently Wickett visited Lottery headquarters to claim her prize. With her winnings, she plans to complete home improvements, take a vacation, and share with family.

Some people chimed in about the Wayne County woman’s win on the Michigan Lottery’s Instagram post. "That's one way of holding on to your money," one commenter said. "Those ppl don’t deserve to win," another wrote on the post.

The Powerball jackpot was last won on Feb. 6. One ticket bought in Washington won the $754.6 million jackpot. Currently, the jackpot stands at $186 million according to the Michigan Lottery.

Powerball plays may be purchased for $2 each at Lottery retailers across Michigan and online at MichiganLottery.com. The Powerball drawing takes place at 10:59 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and may be watched live online at: http://www.powerball.com. Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states.