A broken leg and a lucky mix-up led to an Ogemaw County couple winning $4 million playing the Michigan Lottery’s Max Money instant game.

“My wife broke her leg a couple months ago and she has trouble getting out of the house,” said the player’s 71-year-old husband. “Each week I’ve been buying her four or five $20 tickets to help lift her spirits.

“I stopped at the Murphy USA gas station in West Branch and told the clerk to give me five tickets from bin number 28. Well, last week bin 28 was a $20 game and this week it was the Max Money game. I decided I’d buy the tickets and give them a try.”

When he returned home, his wife scratched the tickets and was stunned to have won $4 million.

“She was screaming that she’d won $4 million and I just thought she was playing a trick on me,” said the player’s husband. “I told her she needed to call the Lottery to be sure she’d won.”

After confirming the good news, the player asked her husband to sign her ticket and come to Lansing to claim the big prize. Her husband visited Lottery headquarters Thursday to claim the prize. He chose to receive their prize as a one-time lump sum payment of about $2.5 million, rather than an annuity. With their winnings, the couple plans to invest and possibly take a trip. The couple chose to remain anonymous.

“As I walked out the door, my wife said: ‘Honey, this means you can retire!’ I’m not sure if I want to retire, but it is nice to know we’ll never have to worry about any of our finances ever again,” the player’s husband said.

Players have won more than $76.2 million playing Max Money, which launched in June 2016. Each $30 ticket offers players a chance to win prizes ranging from $30 up to $4 million. More than $72 million in prizes remain, including on $4 million top prize, 12 $20,000 prizes, 272 $6,000 prizes, and 1,067 $1,000 prizes.

Lottery instant games may be purchased at 11,000 retailers across the state.

In 2016, Lottery players won nearly $817 million playing instant games.