Man threw away lottery ticket, then realized he'd won $100K

What are the odds you win the lottery? You're more likely to be struck by lightning.

NEWBERRY, S.C. - A South Carolina man is using his newfound wealth to send his grandkids to college.

The unidentified winner of the South Carolina Education Lottery took home $100,000 by matching the numbers on five balls drawn on Jan. 24.

But he almost didn’t see a dime of it.

A South Carolina lottery winner nearly threw away his winning ticket. (Photo by Erik Campos/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

He told the lottery office that he’d trashed his Palmetto Cash 5 ticket after incorrectly looking at the numbers and thinking he lost.

He looked at the results again while having a cup of coffee and realized his mistake.“I couldn’t believe it,” he said.

With balls numbered 1 through 38, he only had a 1 in 501,942 chance of hitting the jackpot.

Along with his grandchildren’s college fund, the man plans to donate a portion of his winnings to charity.

This story was reported from Atlanta.