Wife ‘literally’ thought husband was having heart attack. He had won the lottery

When a man called his wife and told her he was having a heart attack, she took his comment way too seriously.

The 54-year-old man from Worthington, Iowa, wasn’t having a medical emergency. He was simply in shock from a jackpot lottery win.

Paul Engler told Iowa Lottery officials when he accepted his prize June 2 that he achieved his big win with a $20 Payline scratch-off ticket he purchased at a Casey’s gas station in Epworth.

As his wife and son were shopping, he began scratching off the ticket in his car. A phone call to his wife quickly followed.

“I made the mistake of saying, ‘Hey, you better get out here, I think I’m having a heart attack,’” Engler told lottery officials. “She literally thought I was having a heart attack and I said, ‘No, I’m not having a heart attack! Just come out, it’s a good thing!’”

Good is an understatement. Engler had won the game’s top prize of $250,000, beating odds of 1 in 157,050.

And with that top prize, the Englers have big plans. The patriarch of the family said he hopes to put some of the winnings toward his kids’ college funds, while also treating them to a vacation.

“The boys have never seen an ocean or flown on a plane. So we did say we’re going to remedy that next summer,” Engler told lottery officials.

Worthington is about a 55-mile drive northeast from Cedar Rapids.

This story was originally published June 3, 2025 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Wife ‘literally’ thought husband was having heart attack. He had won the lottery."