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Man Wins $7 Million On Scratch-Off Ticket In Get Well Card From Rockland County Dad

NEW CITY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- This would make anyone feel better!

Joseph Amorese, 46, of Easton, Pennsylvania was recovering from hernia surgery last month when he received a get-well card from his father who lives in Rockland County.

Inside the card was a scratch-off lottery ticket.

It turned out to be a winner worth $7 million.

"I took my glasses off, I'm looking at it, I was pretty shocked to say the least," Amorese said. "I had surgery so I didn't jump up and down, but in my mind I was jumping up and down."

Man Wins $7 Million On Scratch-Off Ticket In Get Well Card From Rockland County Dad

New York Lottery officials presented Amorese with a ceremonial check Wednesday at Just A Dollar at 20 North Main St. in New City, where the "$7,000,000 Golden Ticket" scratch-off was purchased.

"Did it heal the hernia any faster?" 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck asked Amorese, who laughed and responded, "All the pain I felt, I did not feel for at least a couple of days."

Amorese said his dad, who was not at Wednesday's press conference, often gives lottery tickets as gifts. But none were big winners until now. His lump sum payout will be just over $4.6 million after taxes, CBS2's Elise Finch reported.

"My life, I don't expect it to change a whole lot. I'm still going to go to work every day. My wife's gonna go to work and we're going to invest the money and enjoy life," Amorese said.

Amorese is a project manager for a technology company. His wife, Jodi, is a social worker. The two have only been married for 10 months so they said their only splurge with their lottery winnings might be a second honeymoon.

"I still don't know what to say. I'm still dumbfounded by this whole thing," Jodi Amorese said. "Holy cow, holy cow, it really is an unbelievable experience."

"It gives us a lot more freedom than we had before, and maybe look toward retirement a little bit sooner than I was expecting," Joseph Amorese added.

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