A lottery winner in southern Italy nearly lost her one million euro jackpot after mistakenly throwing away her winning ticket, only to have local sanitation workers mount an extraordinary recovery effort that lasted an entire day.
The incident began when the woman attempted to redeem her ticket at a machine inside her local tobacconist shop without first verifying the numbers. The machine displayed a message indicating the ticket was "non-payable," which she interpreted as a loss. However, this designation can carry two meanings: either the ticket holds no winnings, or the prize amount exceeds what the small retail location is authorized to distribute.
Believing her ticket worthless, the woman disposed of it in a trash bin. The error came to light when a family member contacted her to inquire whether she had purchased a ticket, having noticed that the winning numbers matched those she consistently played—digits associated with a loved one.
Upon realizing the mistake, the woman and her relative rushed back to the shop, only to learn that sanitation workers had already collected the refuse.
The woman immediately contacted SANB, the local waste management company. Administrator Roberto Nicola Toscano received her urgent call and began reconstructing the ticket's likely path through the collection system. After identifying the probable location, his team redirected the garbage truck in question to a specialized facility equipped with safety protocols designed to protect workers from hazardous materials commonly found in municipal waste.
SANB staff spent a full day methodically searching through the truck's contents. Their persistence paid off when they successfully located the ticket, which Toscano described as "miraculously still in one piece," according to AFP news agency.
The recovery brought the woman to tears of relief. Toscano told Corriere della Sera that "professionalism, organization, and a great deal of luck made the moment happen," as quoted by German news outlet DW. He added that the additional taxpayer cost incurred by the extensive search operation would be covered as a courtesy offered by the fortunate winner.
The incident serves as a remarkable example of public service dedication and the importance of thoroughly checking lottery results before discarding tickets. It also highlights the value of persistence when searching for lost items of significance.
