SIX YEARS AGO Andy Ashkar of Camillus, New York purchased a scratch-off lottery ticket from his parents' convenience store. He won $5 MILLION!! Why are we just now hearing about this? Simple, Andy who was 28-years-old at the time decided that he would not cash in the lottery ticket right away because he did not want it to negatively affect his life. Only telling his brother Nayel Ashkar about the winnings, they patiently waited SIX YEARS to claim their prize. Andy wanted to ensure that his girlfriend did not marry him for the money and Nayel wanted to make sure that he had his life together. Earlier this year they claimed the money just 11 days before the prize expired. Andy, who is 34-years-old is currently married to the same girlfriend he had. Nayel, 36 feels that they both had their lives together and the time was right.
Although most lottery tickets expire after one year, scratch-off tickets run very differently. Scratch off tickets normally do not expire until the year AFTER the game is discontinued. The game was retired on March 12, 2011. Wow, Patience really is a Virtue!
