Dad promises ‘an amazing Christmas’ for his babies after hitting NC Powerball prize
A North Carolina man had just left a convenience store when something told him to go back inside and buy a couple of $3 Powerball tickets, N.C. lottery officials said Tuesday.
One of the tickets scored him a $100,000 prize.
“Six dollars changed my life,” James Miller of the Lincoln County community of Iron Station told officials at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Monday when he claimed his prize, according to a news release.
“I’ve got two babies at home, and they sure are going to have an amazing Christmas now,” he said.
Miller bought the pair of Quick Pick Power Play tickets at Jerry’s One Stop on N.C. 27.
“Something just hit me and told me to buy some Powerball tickets, so I walked back in,” Miller said. “I don’t think it’s really hit me yet that I won.”
Miller is a 39-year-old construction worker. After taxes, he took home $70,751, according to the lottery.
He said his mom, who learned recently that she’d beaten cancer, was the first person he told about the win.
“She was half asleep, but she jumped out of the bed when I told her,” Miller said.
He said he’ll also use some of the proceeds for a down payment on a house.
The Powerball jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing is about $333 million, or $241.5 million in cash, lottery officials said.
The odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 292 million, according to the lottery
This story was originally published December 14, 2021 at 2:25 PM with the headline "Dad promises ‘an amazing Christmas’ for his babies after hitting NC Powerball prize."