Woman Wins $1 Million Lottery Prize After Finding Forgotten Ticket at the Bottom of Her Purse: 'In Total Shock'

The Illinois woman was grocery shopping and decided to buy a lottery ticket on a whim

An Illinois woman decided to buy a lottery ticket while grocery shopping and then forgot about it when she checked the numbers, she was stunned to realize she won big.

The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, was shopping on Oct. 20 at a Jewel-Osco grocery store in Elmhurst, according to the Illinois Lottery.

“While on my way to visit my Aunt, I made a quick stop at Jewel to pick up a few groceries, and before heading out the door, I grabbed a quick pick Lucky Day Lotto ticket,” she told lottery officials. She put the ticket in her purse and "forgot all about it."

Related: Illinois Mom Wins $1.4M Lottery Jackpot Using Kids' Birthdays as Numbers: ‘Absolutely Wackadoodle!’

The woman revealed that a few days had passed before she actually realized she won — finding the ticket at the bottom of her purse. She told officials that opened her lottery app, scanned her ticket and checked to see if "it was a winner."

“I immediately saw '$1,000,000' on the screen and I was in total shock," she continued. "I scanned the ticket one more time to double-check, and when it showed '$1,000,000' again, I instantly started crying. I thought, ‘This is unbelievable.' ”

She matched all five numbers of the winning Lucky Day Lotto numbers: 2-3-24-25-28. It's the ninth Illinois Lottery player this year to win $1 million or more with Lucky Day Lotto, according to officials.

Related: Man Was Angry He Couldn’t Buy the Lottery Ticket He Wanted. Then He Won $9.2M Prize: 'Speechless'

Now, she has big plans for the prize money, which includes an international vacation.

“What I’m most excited about is being able to afford annual trips to my favorite place in the whole world: Ireland," the woman told officials. "The landscape is stunning and I’m thrilled that I can now look forward to these trips every year."