Sometimes all it takes is just one shot to win a big lottery prize. That's what happened to one North Carolina man recently when he scored a huge $1 million win.
According to a release from the NC Education Lottery, Paul Bray Jr., of Reidsville, rarely plays the lottery. However, he decided to try his luck last week by purchasing a $10 Big Cash Payout ticket from the S&L Country Market on U.S. 158. When he saw the $1 million prize, he told lottery officials that he "almost had a heart attack."
"I thought it was $1,000 at first," said Bray. "But I just kept seeing zeroes."
Bray claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Monday (February 14), where he had to make a choice regarding how to receive his life-changing prize. He could either accept the prize money as an annuity of $50,000 per year over the course of 20 years or he could receive a one time, lump sum payment of $600,000. In the end, he chose the latter, taking home a grand total of $424,063 after all state and federal tax withholdings.
So what does he plan to do with his new winnings? Bray told lottery officials that he hopes to build a new house for he and his wife to enjoy.
"I'm just a country boy and I've never won anything like this," he said.