The man, who lives in Hesse, western Germany, had bought the ticket on March 29, but completely forgot about it until six months later, when he found what was in his jacket pocket.
There is a time of year when you can finally ditch your winter coat and welcome the warmer weather, but such a simple act doesn’t usually result in frantic public pleas.
Yet that’s precisely what happened in March when a German father hid his jacket in the family closet, only to make a surprising discovery when he put it back on last week.
His coat was out of sight for six months, during which Lotto Hessen contacted the media because the winner of a whopping €15.3 million (£13.4 million) had not turned up to claim the life-changing prize, something that normally happens a fortnight after the draw.
The lottery company spent half a year searching for the elusive winner and even resorted to posting ads in retail stores.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, the winning combination, including the bonus number, was scrawled on a receipt hidden in a forgotten coat pocket.
The father, who lives in Hesse in western Germany, bought the ticket on March 29 after placing an anonymous bet without a customer card and then kept the lottery ticket.
And if you think he didn’t hear about the public’s requests for unclaimed entry, you’re wrong…
Incredibly, the man heard the news, but had no idea that he was the mystery winner, having completely forgotten about his impromptu purchase all those months ago.
He recalled: “I heard on the radio that they were looking for the winner and I thought, ‘How stupid can you be not to claim a prize like that?'”
A Lotto Henson spokesman said: “Out of sight, out of mind. Incredible, but that’s how it must have happened.”
But when the colder weather returned, the guy finally got his jacket out of storage and that’s when he discovered the lottery ticket.
He said: “When I checked the numbers on my mobile phone and saw the prize money, I was completely shocked.”
After finally stepping forward to claim his millions, the mystery man from the Rhine-Main area revealed that he plans to spend money on a new sofa for the living room and make sure his wife and children have everything they could need.
The lottery spokesman added: “In the next few days we wanted to look for him again through posters and through the media.”
But after claiming the windfall, there will be no need for further appeals, and the couple have vowed to keep their identities secret.
