Postal worker saves kitten and buys winning Washington lottery ticket all in one day
A Washington postal worker had an eventful day after he saved a kitten and then bought a winning lottery ticket.
Joseph Waldherr scored $717,500, Washington’s Lottery said in an Aug. 24 news release.
But he didn’t realize his big win until a few days later.
Initially, the Tacoma man went to work as a postal employee and heard meowing. He couldn’t find where the noises were coming from, so he went about his day, lottery officials said in the release.
The next day he heard the meowing again. This time he found a kitten crammed in a tight space at this work.
He pulled the kitten out and put it in his shirt pocket where it napped for the rest of his work day.
On his way home he decided to snag a lottery ticket at a convenience store and bought a Hit 5 game for $1.
Waldherr went home to show his wife the kitten and forgot about his lottery ticket.
Days later, he scanned the ticket and “See Lottery Office” flashed across his screen, lottery officials said. The couple scanned the ticket a couple more times.
Then Waldherr looked up the numbers online and realized he won $717,500.
The couple told lottery officials they thank their new kitten Peaches for the big win.
They plan to use the money to help Waldherr’s parents and to donate to charities, lottery officials said.
“My wife and I have everything we need. We just want to help others,” Waldherr said.
This story was originally published August 24, 2023 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Postal worker saves kitten and buys winning Washington lottery ticket all in one day."
