72-Year-Old to Use Lottery Winnings for His Upcoming Wedding

It took a month for Bill Brady to come forward to claim his $200,000 Lucky Day Lotto ticket.

The Illinois Lottery said Brady shared his story when he picked up his prize.

“I bought this ticket a month ago and forgot all about it,” The West Chicago resident said when he presented his $200,000 winning Lucky Day Lotto ticket at the Illinois Lottery Prize Center in Des Plaines.

The 72-year-old man was at a gas station when he opened his wallet to find the ticket. Using the self-scan inside the station, he was happily surprised when the screen said he had won.

“I was so surprised when she said I won $200,000, and it still hasn’t really sunk in,” he said in a written release.

Brady said he will use some of it to pay for his wedding this spring. He also plans to invest.

The winning ticket was purchased at 7-Eleven, 1500 Illinois Route 59 in Bartlett. The retailer received a bonus of $2,000, 1 percent of the prize amount, for selling a winning ticket.