North Carolina Man ‘Ecstatic’ After Winning $1 Million Prize

It was previously reported that one lucky Powerball player in North Carolina won a $1 million prize in the game, but that the ticket had yet to be claimed. Now, the winner has come forward to collect his prize.

Donald West, of Hayesville, recently purchased a $2 Quick Pick Powerball ticket from the Ingles on U.S. 64 East in Hayesville for the Monday (August 15) drawing. However, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery, he forgot to check his numbers to see if he ended up winning anything. It wasn’t until his memory was jogged by the new Mega Millions drawing, as well as news that a winning Powerball ticket was told in his town, that he remembered to check.

“On the website I saw a million-dollar ticket was sold in Hayesville,” he said. “Then I realized I hadn’t checked my Powerball numbers Tuesday like I normally do.”

West was stunned to find out that his ticket did, in fact, match all five white balls in the drawing, beating the 1 in 11.6 million odds. Even after checking his ticket over and over again to make sure he actually won the six-figure prize, he still couldn’t believe it.

“I was ecstatic,” he said. “I had to check 15 to 20 times just to confirm it.”

West claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday (August 18), taking home $710,100 after required state and federal tax withholdings. When asked what he plans to do with his prize, he told lottery officials that aside from paying some bills, he’s still unsure of what to do with his winnings.