TOPEKA, Kan. — Whenever Robert Ratley Jr. of Hutchinson has a little extra cash, he likes to purchase Kansas Lottery instant scratch tickets. With an extra $40 in his pocket Monday morning, the 49-year-old stopped at a Hutchinson convenience store and bought two of the $20 Ultimate Cash scratch tickets. That purchase paid off after he revealed an ultimate cash prize worth $100,000!

“I’m still shaking,” Ratley said when claiming his prize. “I can’t believe it! When I went back into the store to have the ticket checked, the store clerk made me sit down and gave me a glass of water before I passed out. At one point, I barely knew my last name. I was so shaken up it took me several minutes to calm down enough for me to drive home.”

Once the lucky winner was calm enough, he called his wife, Otha, to share the good news.

“Of course she didn’t believe me at first,” Ratley said. “I’m always joking about winning a big prize. I never thought it would really happen though. When I showed the ticket to my brother, I couldn’t help but jump up and down, whooping and hollering. After that, I called my boss and told him I was taking a day off to claim my prize. Everything has happened so fast, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. We were definitely due to get good news for a change.”

Unfortunately, 2017 has been an extremely heartbreaking year for the Ratleys.

“My 20-year-old daughter passed away unexpectedly in a horrible car accident in April,” Ratley said. “Her passing has been very hard on us. I wish she could have seen us win. We always do our best to help people in need. This money will allow us to pay off bills and help us, help others.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Foodmart 2, located at 126 W. Avenue A in Hutchinson.