TOLEDO, Ohio — Jonathan Carlyle looked at his phone Wednesday night and saw he had a voicemail from Gov. Mike DeWine.
It didn't take him long to figure out why.
"I had been paying attention and was fairly certain I won, but I wanted to hear [his] voice to be certain this was really happening," Carlyle said. "I was overcome. Nothing like this has ever happened to me."
Carlyle, the second $1 million winner in the state's Vax-a-Million lottery, spoke to reporters Thursday and said he moved to Ohio in 2013. He works as a delivery driver for Amazon and just finished a long shift when he noticed the message on his phone.
"I almost lost it inside the van," he said.
DeWine said one of the goals of the contest was to speed up Ohioans' timelines for receiving the vaccine. Carlyle said he intended to get vaccinated, but had been putting it off.
Once the lottery was announced, he went to the Lucas County Recreation Center two days later to get his shot. He said the father of his sister's husband died from COVID, and his sister had "been on him" to get the vaccine.
Carlyle and his girlfriend have a 5-month-old baby and he said the money will make it easier to raise him.
"I did not sleep much last night just dreaming about the future," he said. "My family wants to find a forever home. Beyond that I want someone to help make this last. It's a good foundation for my family."
If you have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and have not yet signed up for Vax-a-Million, you can register here.
One $1 million winner and one winner of a full four-year scholarship to any state college will be announced Wednesday nights at 7:29 p.m. through June 23.
DeWine said once the Vax-a-Million lottery is over, there may be other incentives to get vaccinated.
"We're talking with some Ohio companies to see what we can do to sweeten this a little bit," DeWine said. "We're happy with where we are [with the virus], but still have a ways to go. We're ahead of this virus now, but we're not stopping."
