UPDATE: Batavia Lotto Winner of $3 Million Steps Forward

On St. Patrick's Day 2012, James B. of Batavia stopped by his favorite 7-Eleven in town to purchase a Lotto ticket.

To his surprise, —01-03-05-12-17-18—on March 17 and won $3 million. 

"My wife was the first person that I shared the news with,” James told the Illinois Lottery. “She started crying when I told her we had won.  She didn’t believe it even though we had always hoped for this day.  It was surreal."

James is a big fan of the Lotto and typically plays the same numbers. He gets his tickets from the .

This St. Patrick's Day turned out to be an amazing day, one he will not ever forget saying it truly was a lucky day for him.

James has requested that the Illinois Lottery not identify him by his full name. His last name was not made available to the media.

Money for Medical Bills

James is elated that he won because now he and his wife will have fewer worries in their lives. James was hospitalized in October 2011 with a health scare.

“Although I have medical insurance, what I have left to pay is a significant amount," James said. "There is still a lot of money that we owe and thanks to the Illinois Lottery, this is definitely going to help pay for all of my medical bills.”

James opted for the lump sum payment of about $2.1 million. He and his wife won't be making any major changes to their lifestyles. The main difference is that there's more security in the future years.

"My wife and I have always talked about the fact that if we won, we wouldn't go crazy with our winnings," he said. "We are not going to make any rash decisions, maybe buy a nicer house."  

The 7-Eleven store will receive a bonus of $30,000, which is 1 percent of the prize, for selling James the lucky ticket.

The Illinois Lottery has respected James' wishes and is not identifying him by his full name, said Jovanna Levy, Illinois Lottery spokeswoman.

While the Illinois Lottery does arrange photo opportunities for winners to receive their check, the Lottery is not obligating James to do this.

This information about the Batavia Lottery winner is courtesy of the Illinois Lottery.

To read our first story about this $3 million Lotto win in Batavia, .

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