A Portuguese car mechanic who was given a lottery ticket as a tip, after earlier refusing to buy it, has scooped a €50 000 jackpot, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Lottery salesperson Jose Macedo tried to sell the €5 winning ticket to Artur Luis but ended up giving it to the mechanic to show his appreciation for the small amount charged to fix his car, daily newspaper Correio da Manha said.
When the numbers on the national lottery ticket were drawn on Monday, the mechanic won the €50 000 first prize.
”It was an early Christmas gift, a huge tip,” Luis told the newspaper.
”He tried to sell me the ticket but as I was having an off day I decided not to buy it. But it was a lucky day after all and I ended up winning lots of money in a weird way,” he added.
The lottery salesperson from the central town of Mangualde, about 300km north-east of Lisbon, said it was the last ticket he had for sale that day and he would have kept it for himself had it remained unsold and in his hands.
Luis said he intends to give the lottery salesperson a present as a show of thanks for the winning ticket. — Sapa-AFP