When this broke man sold his grandma's old blanket, he had no idea it would make him a millionaire. It's fair to say that things had not been going too well in the life of California man Lauren Critzer back in 2011. A serious auto smash had challenged his life forever and subsequently money was short to say the least. So much so that Critzer had been forced to lodge his three children with their grandparents. Then one day he watched an episode of the popular TV program Antique's Roadshow. What he saw would result in the most dramatic change in fortunes and alter his life completely once again. Up until 2007, Criter had enjoyed a success for his successful career, working as a self-employed carpenter and he was well able to support his family. But he was caught up in a car crash that year which resulted in a complicated injury to his foot. Critzer's wound just refused to heal. Despite a year long stay in the hospital, his injury developed an infection and eventually doctors gave the woodworkers some terrible news. Critzer recollected the devastating conversation he had with his doctors in an interview with cable broadcaster CNBC in November 2017. He recalled, I kept trying to do the best I could and finally it got so bad they said we have to cut your foot off. Now disabled, Critzer found himself unable to continue his freelance career and was left unemployed with no income stream. Although he'd gone through the trauma of losing a foot, Critzer's initial application for disability benefits was turned down. Furthermore, the California native had nothing in the bank and was now facing ruin. At this point, Critzer had to send his three children to live with their grandparents on the other side of the country in Louisiana. This of course was a heartbreaking decision for any father to have to make. I mean, what do you do? Critzer asked the cameras on CNBC. I had kids to take care of, no money, you know? Nothing saved up or nothing like that. He remembered of his dire financial situation. After many delays, at last disability welfare payments started to come on stream, but it proved to be little more than a trickle. Critzer was awarded just $839 a month. Luckily a friend agreed to rent him a shack on land the Good Samaritan owned just outside the city of Palmdale near Los Angeles, California. A grateful Critzer moved in with his then-girlfriend and future wife, Lisa. But even that basic accommodation cost $700 a month, leaving Critzer with less than a couple hundred dollars to live on. Lisa was able to contribute a little, but it was not enough to make much of a difference. It was rough, Critzer lamented. I mean, I would literally go to Costco and get a Costco brand hot dog in Coke because they were $1.50. Thankfully, the couple were able to afford a television because along came the day in late 2011 when Critzer was tuned to PBS. His interest was peaked by an item on the channel's Antiques Roadshow. In one particular segment, the show's expert appraiser of Antiques was a man called Don Ellis. He owned a Native American art gallery and was a collector of First Nation artifacts. A participant in the episode, Ted Cunse of Tucson, Arizona, had brought along an antique blanket for Alice to look over. Cunse knew a little about the blanket, apart from the fact that he believed it to be Navajo and Origin. He claimed the bed cover had been given to a relative of his by Kit Carson, the legendary frontiersman who died in 1868. Alice, however, immediately recognized the object for what it was. He was delighted to inform Cunse that he was the owner of a superb and rare example of a first phase Navajo blanket. In the time on a tradition of the Antiques Roadshow, Cunse was astonished at the news and then overjoyed when he learned of the pieces value. Ellis unhesitatingly put a price of the modest looking blanket of up to $500,000. Now the thing that made Critzer sit up and pay attention was that this was all very close to home. The blanket on TV looked amazingly similar to one that the former carpenter had in his closet. He had inherited the item only to store it away and then think a little more about it. Critzer told CNBC what happened next. I paused the program and I went to get the blanket and I'm sitting there holding it, he remembered. I'm lining up the lines of the TV with the blanket seeing if they match. This guy on TV, the appraiser says $300,000 to $500,000, so I'm thinking maybe this one is worth $5-10 grand. Critzer had come by the bedlin in seven years previously after the death of his grandmother. He had arrived at his deceased relatives home to pick up some books that she had promised him. Apart from the adi claim there was very slim pickings, he recalled, everything was already pillaged through by my sister and my mother, but there was one last overlook bag to be investigated. Folded inside the bag were two blankets, which had been passed down by their grandmother's mother. Critzer's sister immediately took one blanket, leaving the other of what she thought was inferior quality lying like a rag on the floor. According to Critzer, I said, what are you going to do with that? She said, I don't want that, that dirty old thing. I picked it up, put it my closet and there it sat for seven years. After seeing the expensive find on Antique's Roadshow, Critzer was spurred into action and took his bed covered of various local antique stores, but none of the shop owners were oppressed, telling him that it was an everyday Mexican blanket with no value. But after a few months, finally one antique dealer advised him to try John Moran Auctioneers in Manrovia, California, which was known for dealing in Native American items. So Critzer took his grandmother's heirloom, along to an open appraisal day at John Moran Auctioneers. The founder's son, Jeff Moran, was on hand to take a look at the item. Critzer filled him Moran on the blanket's long history in the family. Apparently Critzer's great-great-grandfather, John Chantland, a Dakota trader back in the 19th century, had been the first owner of the Bedlinon. As a result of the consultation, Moran told Critzer that his blanket was likely to attract offers of around $200,000 at auction. The antique dealer arranged for the item to be listed as a lot at the next event held at the auctioneers. But as we've seen, Critzer was in dire financial straits and truly desperate for money and he wasn't sure he could wait. As the date of the auction loomed, Critzer was being increasingly tempted by speculative cash from other dealers. Then came an act of kindness and compassion. Quality's not usually associated with the antique trade. Speaking to CNBC, Moran remembered, I immediately went into Cris's mode with Critzer. I said, I'll tell you what, I'm going to give you an advance. Subsequently, in a scene perhaps more reminiscent of a dodgy drug deal, Moran met his client in a pizza hut parking lot and handed over an envelope stuffed with $9,000 cash. With two weeks to go, that was enough to keep Critzer on board until the day of the auction. The John Moran auctioneers event finally came around in June of 2012. Bidding for the blanket began under its value at $150,000. Perhaps this was the reason the offers climbed briskly in increments of $50,000. Until it reached a remarkable $1 million. After this, the bids advance swiftly by $100,000 each time. Critzer was in the room with Lisa and the emotion on their faces as the price increased to dizzying heights at such a rapid rate was a sight to see. The bidding was indeed fast and furious. In fact, the entire process lasted just 77 seconds until the final bid was accepted with a bang of the auctioneers hammer. The winning telephone bid was an astonishing $1.5 million. And extraordinarily, the buyer was none other than Don Ellis, the very man Critzer had watched on Antique's Roadshow valuing another Navajo blanket. A thoroughly stunned Critzer's next move was to try and get his head together. After the auctioneer took himself off to a hotel and spent five days alone in order to let the good news sink in. After fees, the former disability claimant would have $1.3 million coming his way. Sadly, he also started to hear from relatives looking for a payout. Sadly, his own sister threatened to sue him, but thankfully she later thought better of it. Despite that unpleasantness, Critzer was now able to enjoy his money. He said goodbye to the shack and bought two houses, one for Lisa himself to live in, and the other to provide rental income. He also splashed out on a 2012 Dodge Challenger, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and took a family cruise down to Mexico. But the canny ex-carpenter also wanted to build a comfortable future, and so Critzer put some of his newfound wealth into stocks and bonds, and all thanks to his grandmother's blanket, which ended up covering him for life. Please share this video with your friends below.