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While the 4^th of July weekend celebrations came to an end Sunday, one Sedgwick County resident was just starting to celebrate after becoming the Sunflower State’s newest millionaire!

“My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling so much,” the winner exclaimed. “I’m just overwhelmed with joy!”  

The lucky Kansan anonymously claimed a Powerball ticket worth $1 million more than six months after the December 29, 2018 drawing. The winner matched five-of-six numbers.

The winning numbers in the drawing were 12-42-51-53-62 with a Powerball of 20.

When claiming the prize, the winner explained they didn’t know there was an unclaimed ticket out there and they were in possession of it.

“I buy Powerball, Mega Millions, and Super Kansas Cash twice a week so I usually wait a couple of weeks and scan them all at once,” the winner said. “The ticket just got caught in the mix of my receipt drawer and I saw it sitting there and pulled it out and looked at it and it said '12-29-2018' so I thought ‘oh wow, I have to go scan this.’”

However, after scanning the ticket the lucky player still didn’t know what they had won.

“It said to sign the back of the ticket and claim it at the Lottery headquarters in Topeka. I was just in shock,” the winner explained.

Curious about the potential prize, the winner logged onto the Kansas Lottery’s website and saw multiple articles about an unclaimed $1 million Powerball ticket sold in south central Kansas. The winner was then left speechless.

“I originally thought maybe it was $5,000 or $10,000 or something like that, but once I pulled it up on the website and it said '$1 million unclaimed Powerball ticket in south central Kansas' I thought ‘that’s me,’” the winner said with a smile. “It wasn’t real for me until I walked into this office and they gave me a receipt for winning and said congratulations this is what you’ve won!”

The winner said they plan to invest the money in their growing family's future.

“I’m just excited. I do have a baby on the way and we’re going to buy a house,” the winner said. “I’m not going to go out and travel the world, I’m old enough to know that my kids need to be taken care of first before anything else.”

The winning ticket was sold at QuikTrip 329R on 1620 S Oliver St. in Wichita, Kansas. The retailer is eligible to receive a $1,000 bonus for selling the $1 million ticket.