A man in North Carolina got an early birthday surprise when he found out the lottery ticket he was gifted landed him a $100,000 win.
Charles Cagle, of Asheboro, is gearing up to mark his birthday, and his wife got the celebration started by giving him a Mega 7's scratch-off lottery ticket purchased from the Ready Mart on South Fayettesville Street, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery.
"My wife bought the ticket for my birthday," he said. "It's the 29th. I'll be 71."
The game, which debuted in October, included four $2 million prizes and eight prizes of $100,000. As Cagle scratched off his ticket, he couldn't believe his luck to see he won one of the latter and immediately called out to his wife.
"I called her and told her she needed to look at something," he recalled. "We sat silent for a minute to make sure, then we were really happy."
Cagle claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Wednesday (December 28), taking home a total of $71,016 after all required state and federal tax withholdings, a fitting figure just in time to celebrate his birthday.
When asked what he plans to do with his winnings, he told lottery officials he hopes to pay some bills. Even after receiving his prize, Cagle is still having a hard time believing that he actually won, saying, "When it's in the bank, I'll believe it."