**Waste Workers Help Recover €1 Million Lottery Ticket in Italy**
In a remarkable turn of events, a lottery player in Bitonto, southern Italy, may have just become the luckiest man in the country after his discarded €1 million winning ticket was recovered by waste workers. The incident unfolded when the anonymous player mistakenly threw away his ticket after being informed that it was "non-payable."
The player had checked his lottery numbers at a local shop, only to be told that the prize was too high to be paid out at that location. Unbeknownst to him, the ticket he had discarded was indeed a winner. It wasn't until a family member pointed out that the numbers he frequently played—2, 4, 8, 10, and 51—had been drawn that he realized his mistake.
Roberto Nicola Toscano, the head of the refuse company SANB, which manages waste collection in the area, recounted the events leading up to the recovery of the ticket. "This story is nothing short of miraculous," Toscano stated, emphasizing the urgency of the situation. The ticket had been discarded in a shop and subsequently collected by a bin lorry, which had already begun its route.
The player quickly contacted the refuse company after realizing his error. Fortunately, the bin lorry was located before its contents could be compacted for disposal. Toscano noted that the timing was critical, as the incident occurred on a Sunday. Had it been any other day, the waste would have likely been sent to a landfill.
Once the truck was found, it was escorted to a designated site where a search commenced to locate the winning ticket among the collected refuse. Toscano described the daunting task of sifting through "a mountain of waste" to find the small slip of paper. After two days of searching, a waste worker finally discovered the ticket on Tuesday morning, buried in a damaged bag along with other discarded tickets. Remarkably, the winning ticket was one of the few that remained intact.
While the recovery of the ticket brought immense relief to the player, it also came with a cost. Toscano revealed that the expenses associated with the recovery operation would be charged to the lottery winner, who had previously signed a declaration agreeing to cover such costs.
In a lighthearted twist to the story, Toscano and his colleagues purchased a scratch card as a joke during the recovery efforts and ended up winning €50 (£43).
This incident highlights not only the serendipity involved in lottery wins but also the dedication of waste workers who played a crucial role in recovering what could have been a life-changing ticket for the anonymous player. The tale serves as a reminder of the unexpected turns that life can take and the importance of perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.