Winner Is Seconds From Disaster When His Ripped-In-Half $1 Million Powerball Ticket Mistakenly Goes Into The Trash

Pete Kemp collects his $1 million Iowa Powerball prize - but he nearly missed out Photo: Des Moines Register

He was one step away from a disaster when a 47-year-old Des Moines man went to check his lottery ticket on Sunday.

Pete Kemp, a bus driver in Des Moines, said he bought the Powerball ticket at a Cash Saver supermarket on Fleur Drive and later checked to see if it was a winner.

And it was a $1 million prize, reported the Des Moines Register.

The winning ticket was sold here at Cash Saver in Fleur Drive Photo: Google

But in the bustle of preparing his lottery paperwork, the convenience store clerk ripped the ticket in half and threw it away in the trash.

"I thought it was invalid. She was real quick to tape it together," Kemp said Monday at the Iowa Lottery headquarters in Clive. "I grabbed it and ran out the door."

Pete Kemp is interviewed about his lucky escape VIDEO: YouTube/Des Moines Register.

Kemp thought he might have trouble claiming the prize since the original ticket had been torn. But Iowa Lottery officials said they could pinpoint where the person checked the winning ticket.

As long as he had his paperwork, the damage to the ticket wouldn't affect his ability to claim the prize, officials said.

The Iowa headquarters where winners go to pick up their prize money PHOTO: Des Moines Register

Kemp came close to winning at least a share of Saturday's $110 million jackpot by matching the first five numbers, but missed the Powerball, according to a news release.