Longtime Friends In North Carolina Split Massive Lottery Prize

A pair of friends in North Carolina are celebrating a huge win, and the fulfillment of a longtime promise, after one of them scored a massive lottery prize.

Scott Edwards of Julian and Perry Charles of Lexington have been friends for 35 years after meeting while working at Winn-Dixie. Over the years, they had made a pact that if one of them were to win a big lottery prize, they would split it. That promise finally came around earlier this month after Charles picked up Double Win Fast Play ticket from Mast Food Mart on Old U.S. 64 East after seeing the $361,527 jackpot, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery.

"I'd just gotten off of work," said Charles. "I looked at the amount you could win and thought to myself, 'Man, I want this!'"

After he found out the ticket proved to be a winner, he knew he had to call Edwards and let him know that the time had finally come.

"We always talked about if we would hit something big, it didn't matter if we went in together to get the ticket or if we got it separate, we were gonna share it with each other," said Charles.

As for how Edwards felt about the surprise, he was speechless.

"I was lost for words," said Edwards. "I was kind of in shock too because to me that's a lot of money to win. And I know that anything he says is just the truth. So, I knew when he told me that he wasn't pulling my leg."

Edwards added, "He's what you call a true friend. Kinda like family."

After waiting over three decades for the special moment to roll around, Charles and Edwards arrived at lottery headquarters on July 13 to claim the prize, taking home the $128,361 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. When asked what they plan to do with their new winnings, both men said they hope to pay some bills.