The successful career of Loren Krytzer as a freelance carpenter came to an end when he met a horrifying car accident in 2007.
Doctors told him that he would live for just 5 years and that one of his feet needed to be amputated due to medical complications.
Even with the amputation, Krytzer was denied disability benefits. Eventually, the poor guy had to send his children to their grandparents in Louisiana for their upbringing.
When Krytzer finally got disability funds, they weren’t enough to meet his expenses. He had with him just $200 for his monthly expenses after paying off the rent.
He also received monetarily support from his girlfriend, but it was also insufficient to meet his needs.
At the peak of his financial miseries, Krytzer came across an episode of the British television program ‘Antiques Roadshow,’ which proved to be a fate changer for him.
On the show, he saw how an elderly man was left stunned after knowing that his First Phase Navajo blanket was worth a whopping $500,000.
It was when Krytzer recalled that he had also inherited an exactly similar blanket from his grandmother.
After her death, his mother and sister had pillaged almost everything except that blanket which seemed worthless and insignificant to them.
It was how the antique blanket ended up with Krytzer, who placed it in a closet where it remained for the next seven years.
After watching the show, Krytzer thought his blanket could worth anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 but his mom maintained that it will hardly go for $10.
The next few days, Krytzer took the piece to various antique dealers, most of whom said it wasn’t more than an average Mexican blanket.
He finally heard something positive from the John Moran Auctioneers, a family-owned auction company that sells artifacts of Native Americans.
Fortunately for Krytzer, Jeff Moran knew that the blanket was not ordinary. After inspection, it was verified that it was a rare Navajo chief blanket.
Six months later, the blanket was up for auction.
Krytzer was told that the price of the blanket can go as high as $200,000. But due to his financial woes, he was in desperate need of funds.
At one point, he almost decided to take his blanket to another auctioneer who would pay him up front.
But John Moran Auctioneers saved the deal by paying him $9,000 ahead of the auction as an advance payment.
Finally came the moment Krytzer was waiting for. In a 77-second auction, the price of the blanket rapidly went from $150,000 to $1.5 million.
Krytzer returned home as a millionaire, after getting a whopping $1.3 million.
He bought two homes, a new car, and a new motorcycle, and invested the remaining amount in municipal bonds and stocks.
He also married his girlfriend Lisa and took her and her three daughters on a pre-honeymoon trip.
But it wasn’t so easy as Krytzer had to deal with some troubles as well.
After the word spread about him, Krytzer’s distant relatives contacted him, asking a share in his fortune. His sister even threatened to sue him.
He was finally able to deal with his greedy relatives after taking a lesson on ‘time value of money’ from Moran’s accountant.
Krytzer said: “I firmly believe I’m here because years ago I turned my life around.
“The things I’ve been through, I tell people it’s a strong faith and a strong mind. Without those things you’re not going to make it.”
Krytzer knows that even $1.3 million wouldn’t last long, so he has planned to move to Idaho in order to lessen the costs of living.
He also plans to start a part-time job to bear his future expenses.