Robert Lee Simmons Jr. bought the winning ticket at an Indianapolis Kroger store in the 2500 block of Lake Circle Drive before last week's drawing.

But he didn't know he'd matched the six winning numbers -- 1-5-18-22-30-34 -- until he went to check his numbers at the store this week and was told he needed to go to the Hoosier Lotto office.

"I'll be damned," was Simmons's first reaction, he said. "I called my cousin at about 7 in the morning and I said, 'I've won the lotto.' And she said, 'You'd be kidding me?' And I said, 'No I'm not. Please get here.'"

Simmons, who is on disability, didn't disclose much about what he plans to do with his $3.6 million lump sum winnings, but said it will go a long way for him and his family.

"It's going to help me pay off my hospital bills," he said, choking up. "I'm going to take it one day at a time."

The native Hoosier said he plans to stay in Indiana and do some serious thinking before making any big purchases.

In the 20 years he's played the lottery, Simmons said he's never won more than a free ticket here and there.

"I'm a poor man who wants to have some money in his pocket," he said. "I took a chance."

The Hoosier Lotto jackpot had grown to $9.5 million after a group of Amtrak workers from Beech Grove hit a $34.5 million jackpot in November.

The Kroger store where Simmons won his ticket will get a $95,000 prize.