Lottery player gets ‘life-changing stroke of luck.’ But his mom was skeptical
A lottery player got a “life-changing stroke of luck” — but his mom was skeptical.
“She thought I was joking,” Jeremy Wilson told the North Carolina Education Lottery in a Sept. 19 news release.
But Wilson’s massive $10 million prize was the real deal. And now, he plans to spoil his mom with a trip for her birthday.
The 20-year-old son scored the big win after stopping at North River Tobacco Barn in Jarvisburg, near the coast and a roughly 200-mile drive northeast from Raleigh. While there, he played the $10 Million Spectacular scratch-off game.
“I only buy $50 tickets when I’m feeling lucky,” Wilson said.
It turns out, Wilson’s intuition was spot-on. He was still at the store when he checked his ticket, discovering how much it was worth.
“It was a crazy feeling,” Wilson told lottery officials. “I couldn’t control myself.”
The winner is from Willow Spring, a roughly 15-mile drive south from Raleigh. Instead of opting for annual payments, he took his prize as a lump sum of $6 million. He kept $4.3 million after taxes.
In addition to traveling with his mom, Wilson hopes to save for the future.
It’s not the first time someone wasn’t convinced about a lottery prize. The wife of another North Carolina winner thought he was “pulling her leg” when he hit the jackpot, McClatchy News reported in 2024.
