A Staten Island, New York, man won millions of dollars, thanks to a bout of insomnia.
Salvatore Gandolfo, 55, of Arden Heights couldn't sleep on April 1, so he got up and bought a scratch-off ticket that won him $7.5 million, he said on Tuesday.
"That night, I was thinking about someone from my past, someone who is no longer here," said Gandolfo, a former NYC Department of Finance worker.
"It was about 3 or 4 in the morning. I couldn't sleep. I woke up and ate breakfast. I put on my clothes, got in my car and drove," Gandolfo said.
The restless retiree hopped out of his Honda and paid $25 for a Silver Spectacular ticket at Richmond Deli & Grocery in Mariners Harbor.
"I scanned it and it said 'big ticket winner.' I thought there was something wrong with the ticket ... It didn't sink in. It didn't register in my mind," he said.
He added, "I was shocked when I realized I had won."
To celebrate, he gave a kid at the store a $20 bill and a second stranger a $40 winning ticket, he said.
Cash can help you sleep better — but Gandolfo still has trouble snoozing sometimes, he said.
He woke up at 2 a.m. on Tuesday because he was thinking about his family, he said.
He opted to take home a lump-sum payout of $4,672,800. He plans to spend his winnings to travel, buy a new Honda and help his family financially.
"I'm a simple man ... the one thing I always wanted was happiness. You can't put a price on happiness, but it makes me happy to help my family," he said.
Other winners announced on Tuesday include Michael Palmer, 29, of Brooklyn, who won $1 million, and a pool 36 co-workers from Bloomberg LP in Manhattan, who also won $1 million.
Congrats to him!
Very nice.
@ rotten insomniac
Nice down to earth guy.
Congratulations to Sal and continued good luck.
Congrats!
Good for him!
And surely there are people who were constantly telling him to get more sleep!
Congrats!!! Enjoy your gift from the afterlife.
if he is laying awake at 2 am thinking about the past, i dont think the money is going to make him happy.Learn to live in the present pal. the past cant be changed , and the future isnt here, I think he will have as many sleepless nights or more in the future., but gratz and good luck,
Now thats a winner !
My Grandma always said "the early bird catches the worm"! Congratulations.
I'm guessing, he'll be buying more tickets w/o sleep...lol