Shocked is how an Acworth man described the feeling after his Georgia Lottery big win as he landed back in Atlanta.

John Birg, won a $40,000 prize playing the Georgia Lottery instant game $400,000 Fast Play after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

“I was waiting for my daughter to pick me up,” the father of two said. “I never really played before. I was just killing time.”

He purchased the ticket from one of the lottery’s vending machines on the North Terminal near baggage claim at the airport.

“I was shocked,” he said. “It felt great.”

A manufacturing management consultant, Birg intends to make home improvements and save the remainder of his prize.

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A MARTA operator is seen inside the control room of one of the new MARTA trains during the unveiling of these trains on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

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