Mega Millions jackpot worth $1.537.000.000 kicked off a lottery craze last week and millions of people around the world were frantically buying the tickets – but not Earl Livingston. This 87-year-old man broke his hip on his way to a store to get a ticket and ended up in the hospital. The staff was touched by his story and asked him to join their syndicate, and they eventually shared an impressive $1.000.000 prize.
Livingston was one of 141 players who were a part of the office pool at the Jefferson Stratford Hospital. They matched the five main winning numbers 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70, but missed the Mega Ball 5 in Mega Millions draw on October 23rd. Members of the syndicate, including Livingston, put in $2 each and they’ll collect around $7.000 after equally sharing the $1.000.000 windfall.
“When the patient came in for care and he told them what had happened, they invited him to join as a way to make him feel less sick,” explained Marianne Kraemer, the chief nurse at the Jefferson Stratford Hospital
After finding out their ticket was worth $1.000.000, the syndicate leader took a look at the names of people in the pool, and realized Livingston was one of them. They immediately shared the news with the patient and his family, who were grateful that the hospital’s staff went an extra mile to make him feel like a part of the team
“As excited as we were and in the process of congratulating everyone, we never lost sight of what was important, which is to care for our patients, and make them feel important,” said Kraemer.