A Fire Fighter Who Got Lung Damage Helping on 9/11 Just Won $5 Million on a Lottery Scratcher
I know it’s awfully hard to get excited about someone ELSE winning the lottery . . . but if you were ever going to say someone besides YOU deserves it, it just might be this guy.
63-year-old Carmelo Mercado of Queens, New York was a first responder on 9/11, and he wound up with severe lung damage in the process. Well, he just won $5 million on a lottery scratcher.
Carmelo bought the lottery ticket at a convenience store back in May and he claimed his prize on Thursday. He’ll get a lump sum of $3.3 million.
Back in 2001, he was a firefighter in Queens and he was part of the team that rushed to the World Trade Center after the first tower went down. He got there just as the second tower collapsed and then he spent two days afterwards helping the search efforts.
He had to retire in 2004 after a doctor said he’d suffered too much lung damage on 9/11 to keep working as a firefighter.
His plan with the money is to pay some medical expenses, get a vacation home for his family near Disney World, and buy his daughter some American Girl dolls.
