A German man from the Frankfurt area has discovered he won €15.3 million (£13.3 million) on the lottery after finding the ticket in a jacket he had not worn since March. The father had left the ticket in an inside pocket and remained unaware of his win for six months, despite a poster campaign to locate the winner.
As the weather turned colder, he reached for the jacket in his closet and found the ticket. When he checked the numbers on his phone, he was completely shocked. 'Luckily I was sitting down, otherwise my knees would have given way,' he said. The man had heard about the campaign but never thought he was the person being sought.
Lotto Hessen, the state lottery company, confirmed the win on Monday. The man plans to buy a new living room sofa and use the rest of the money to provide for his children. He and his wife will not tell anyone else about their good fortune.
Lotto spokesman Martin Blach commented: 'Out of sight, out of mind - unbelievable, but that's probably how it must have been.'
