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A woman in North Carolina is celebrating a huge win in a new lottery game, claiming the first of the game's top $1 million prizes.
Wendy Hester, of Leland, recently stopped by the Fairhaven Mini Mart at Walker Street Northeast where she got a feeling that she need to pick up a $10 VIP Platinum scratch-off ticket, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery.
"Something just told me to buy it, so I did," she said. "It was just meant to be, I think."
It's a good thing she listened to her instincts, as Hester learned when she got home and scratched the ticket to reveal the $1 million prize.
"I just kept looking at it thinking, 'This can't be right.' But it was right," she said, adding that she quickly shared the good news with her husband. "I called him and told him, 'I just won a million dollars.'"
Hester claimed her prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday (March 9), where she had the choice of receiving her massive prize as an annuity of $50,000 over the course of 20 years or as a one time, lump sum payment of $600,000. In the end, she chose the latter, bringing home a grand total of $427,503 after all required state and federal tax withholdings.
When asked what she plans to do with her new winnings, she told lottery officials she hopes to pay off her car and buy a home for her family.
"This is a dream. We can finally get our home," she said, adding, "This is a godsend. We really needed this."