MASSILLON, Ohio — Michael Simons Jr. of Massillon won the $1 million prize off a lottery ticket he bought at Massillon Mini Mart and intends to give back to a chemotherapy center where he received treatment.


What You Need To Know

  • Michael Simons Jr. of Massillon won the $1 million prize off a lottery ticket he bought at Massillon Mini Mart

  • He intends to give back to a chemotherapy center where he received treatment

  • He decided to take the cash option, which gave him a total of $360,000 after taxes

  • The Ohio Lottery says the Billion lottery ticket—the ticket he won—still has three $1 million top prizes remaining as of Sept. 10

The winning ticket was purchased on his second trip to the store that day, according to a press release from The Ohio Lottery. He had stopped by on his way to work and purchased some tickets, but he didn’t win.

(Courtesy The Ohio Lottery)

He was on a supply run later and decided to go back to the store to grab another.

“Something kind of told me to go back to that store. It was clear across town by my house, about five miles out of the way so I went zooming past Home Depot where I was going to get the broom, went back to the store,” he said in the release.

After realizing he won, the release says he called his grandmother. He decided to take the cash option, which gave him a total of $360,000 after taxes.

In addition to some dental work he wants done and a gift to his dog’s veterinarian office, he said he wants to give back to the chemotherapy center where he had been treated.

“I got a bad colonoscopy last year, went through stage 3 colon cancer…went through 12 rounds of intensive chemo and got a clean scan in April,” he said. “They got me out of stage 3.”

The Ohio Lottery says the Billion lottery ticket—the ticket he won—still has three $1 million top prizes remaining as of Sept. 10. The ticket costs $50.