Man Feels Lucky and Buys a $50 Scratch-Off Ticket. Then, He Calls His Mom When He Realizes How Much He’s Won

A man from North Carolina was feeling lucky when he bought a lottery ticket — and that luck paid off in a huge way.

Jeremy Wilson of Willow Spring purchased a $50 scratch-off ticket on Wednesday night, Sept. 17, at the North River Tobacco Barn on Caratoke Highway in Jarvisburg, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery. He scratched the $10 Million Spectacular ticket right there in the store.

“It was a crazy feeling,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t control myself.”

When he realized he had won the top prize of $10 million, the first person he called was his mom.

“She thought I was joking,” Wilson shared about her reaction.

Wilson’s win is the third $10 million lottery prize in North Carolina this year, according to the Lottery.

The next day, Sept. 18, Wilson went to the Lottery’s office to claim his prize. He could either take $500,000 a year for 20 years or a lump sum of $6 million. He chose the lump sum and, after state and federal taxes, brought home $4,305,014.

Wilson said he plans to use some of the money to take his mom on a trip for her birthday and will save the rest.

The North Carolina Education Lottery explained that the $10 Million Spectacular game started in December 2023. It included five top prizes of $10 million, 20 prizes of $1 million, and 20 prizes of $100,000. Since Wilson claimed the final $10 million prize, the game will now be ended.

In another recent win, a Chicago man claimed a $1,000,004 prize after playing the Powerball during a quick stop at the car wash. According to the Illinois Lottery, he called his wife right away, but at first, she didn’t believe him.

“She thought I was lying,” he said. But after realizing it was true, his wife made a big family decision: “We’re going to Disney World!”