Oregon man finds year-old $1 million lotto ticket eight days before deadline

An Oregon man's snow day cleaning session wound up producing a million-dollar prize

when he uncovered a nearly year-old lottery ticket.

Joemel Panisa found the unclaimed winning ticket just eight days before the final deadline while cleaning his office on a snowy day, according to the Oregon Lottery. Panisa said he bought the Mega Millions ticket on Jan. 13, 2016 and placed it in an envelope where it went forgotten for almost a year.

He remembered reports of an unclaimed lottery ticket on the news and rushed to claim his $1 million prize on Jan. 9, eight days before it was set to expire on Jan. 17.

The Oregon Lottery said Panisa was the fourth Mega Millions $1 million winner since the game began in 2010.

If he had failed to claim his prize on time, the money would have been sent to Oregon's Economic Development Fund.