Lottery winner dies in accident hours after show

[Guaranteed]

ELWOOD, Indiana (AP) -- A man who won $57,000 in an Indiana lottery game taped for television died hours later after being hit by a pickup truck.

The "Hoosier Millionaire" featuring Carl D. Atwood, 73, was broadcast Saturday night after his family said they wanted the show to go on, Hoosier Lottery director Jack Ross said.

<snip>

"I am very thankful," he said on the program. "I must admit that I never expected to be leaving the show with this amount of money. Now I can purchase a very nice car."

Hours later, Atwood was hit by a truck as he walked to the grocery store where he bought the winning ticket near his home in Elwood, about 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis. He died at a hospital.

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This is downright cliche. Just crazy.

[0rganism]

1. D'oh! If only he'd bought that nice car an hour after he got the prize....

...he wouldn't have been walking to the store to get hit by a truck.

I think the message is clear: if you ever win the lottery, don't wait a day to spend your money.

[unblock]

2. no, no, no. THIS is the clear message:

the odds of winning the lottery are about the same as the odds of getting hit by a truck!

[R Hickey]

3. I saw a Seinfeld episode where every time something bad happened...

it would be balanced out by something good. Seinfeld would lose a job, and then immediatly get new one to replace it. He'd lose a twenty dollar bill, then a little while later, he'd find a new one.

[rooboy]

4. Yes, he was 'Even Stephen'...

I guess this unfortunate soul will be dubbed "Coincidental Carl"...

At least I hope the old guy was happy for his last few hours on earth.

[joeybee12]

6. There was also an X Files show on that topic--I wonder which came first

Seinfeld or X Files--I mean, who stole whose idea???

Poor guy.

[GermanDJ]

5. That's an awful and sad story,

poor guy!

But sometimes events like this help other people to actually make a lot of money:

"An old man turned ninety - eight
He won the lottery and died the next day
It's a black fly in your Chardonnay
It's a death row pardon two minutes too late
Isn't it ironic... don't you think

CHORUS:
It's like rain on your wedding day
It's a free ride when you've already paid
It's the good advice that you just didn't take
Who would've thought... it figures"

(Alanis Morissette - Ironic)

[nodehopper]

8. not really ironic

actually, it's not really ironic. it's just unfortunate. alanis is hated by English teachers everywhere for propagating an incorrect usage of the word "ironic."
:)

[mike1963]

9. Actually, it is a perfect example of irony. Most people think it's a

synonym for 'coincidence'.
:eyes:
edit: misplaced apostrophe

Uh, you aren't an English teacher, I hope...?

[nodehopper]

12. sorry, nope

not an English teacher, just a graduate student. But it's not irony. The lottery/truck thing *is* a coincidence, which, as you pointed out, is often interchanged with irony, incorrectly. I suppose it would have been ironic if he had planned to purchase the kind of truck that killed him with the money, but just the happiness/immediate subsequent tragedy does not equal irony, same as in the alanis song, which really should have been called "isn't it a b*tch?"

unless you mean it's ironic because he wanted to BUY a car and then was HIT by a car, which I suppose could be...with a stretch...

anyway, sorry, I don't know why I am finding it necessary to respond in such length about it. Lazy Sunday Syndrome, I guess.

[JoblessRecovery]

7. Oh what luck. Cruel irony.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

10. "Isn't It Ironic".. old man turned 98 won the lottery & died the next day

somebody sang that ...the poor soul:(

[0007]

11. It's been said many time, "Ya get lucky just before ya die"