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Lottery jackpot will cover wife’s funeral expenses, grieving Kentucky dad says

A grieving father of four in Kentucky says his big lottery prize will help him pay for his wife’s funeral expenses.

Bryan Marsh’s wife died earlier this month following a battle with substance abuse, according to WXIX.

On the same day he was to complete the difficult task of picking up her remains, he stopped at Good Spirits Wine & Tobacco in Erlanger to buy a few scratch-off lottery tickets, officials said in a news release.

Marsh said he doesn’t typically spend much money on tickets, but decided to splurge and buy a $10 Bluegrass Blowout scratcher. After scratching the ticket, he didn’t think he’d matched any numbers.

Marsh then returned to the store to cash another winning ticket and had the clerk double-check the $10 scratcher, officials said. The clerk scanned the ticket and gave Marsh some surprising news: The prize was more than the store was able pay.

“I didn’t even know how much I’d won,” Marsh said in the release. “I hadn’t even scratched off the prize amounts.”

Then, he saw $200,000 appear on the store’s scanner and checked his card again.

“I just started yelling, ‘It’s 200,000, it’s $200,000!’” Marsh said in the release. He’d matched the number 27, netting him the top prize.

Marsh received a check for $142,000 after taxes, officials said.

“This money will help prepare for the future,” Marsh said. “It’s going to cover my wife’s funeral expenses and take away my debt.”

Marsh told lottery officials the win came at a strange time and that he’s sad his wife isn’t there to experience it with him.

“The roller coaster of life has its ups and downs and I’m just holding on,” he told officials.

Erlanger is in northern Kentucky near the Ohio line about 10 miles south of Cincinnati.