Carmelo Mercado, a retired NYC firefighter, who was a first responder on Sept. 11, 2001, won $5 million from a scratch-off ticket he purchased in Queens, New York. Hit the jump for his amazing story!
Mercado told the story of how he picked his lucky scratch off,”I bought one ticket and lost on it. I noticed the next ticket in the pack was number 25 – my birth year backwards – so that was the next one I bought.” Mercado collected a lump sum of $3,309,000 after paying the required taxes.
Mercado, 63, was a member of the Queens Battalion 49 on the day of the terrorist attacks, and was forced to retire in 2004 because of 9/11-related health issues. When asked what was his first reaction when he realized he won Mercado said “I thought about Jackie Gleason – homina, homina, homina – that’s a lot of money.” He was presented with an oversized check on Thursday July 2nd.
Congrats to Mr. Mercado and his family!
Spurce||NYPOST
