A man in North Carolina is preparing for his upcoming wedding even more now that he won a $1 million prize in the state lottery.
Austin Dubisar, of Rougemont, recently stopped by the Mebane Food Mart on South 5th Street where he picked up a $30 Millionaire Maker ticket, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery. The ticket proved to bring the 42-year-old Orange County man good luck as he scored the massive $1 million prize.
"I just kind of was in shock," he said. "I had to keep looking at it again to make sure."
He wasn't the only one in shock. Even his fiancée couldn't believe his luck when he called to tell her.
"She didn't believe me," he said, adding that she needed to see proof before she actually thought it was real. "She said, 'Take a picture and send it to me.'"
Dubisar claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday (October 6) where he had the choice of receiving his winnings as either an annuity of $50,000 per year over the course of 20 years or as a one time, lump sum payment of $600,000. In the end, he chose the later, taking home a whopping $426,069 after all required state and federal tax withholdings.
When asked what he plans to do with his prize, he told lottery officials he hopes to pay some bills, do some repairs on his truck, and set some funds aside for his daughter's college tuition. Another major priority is his upcoming wedding, which he can now pay for himself and ease the burden from and and his fiancée's family.
"I told my future in-laws, 'Don't worry about it — I'll take care of that,'" he said. "They still may try to pay for it but I'm not going to let them."