Waste management workers in Italy successfully recovered a misplaced lottery ticket worth 1 million euros ($1.08 million) from the trash after a frantic winner called on them to help retrieve her fortune, the local sanitation company said.
The instant win ticket was "miraculously still in one piece" after garbage workers combed through mounds of trash on their truck, said Roberto Nicola Toscano, the administrator of the SANB company in Italy's southern Puglia region.
Toscano explained how when the winner went on Sunday to check her ticket at her local shop after the drawing, the machine indicated it was "non-payable." That was because smaller retailers can only redeem small wins.
But the woman – who remains anonymous – didn't realize she had won the big jackpot.
"The winner always played the same numbers, as they were associated with a loved one," Toscano said.
