North Carolina Man Wins 'Life Changing' $2 Million Lottery Prize

A man in North Carolina is celebrating what he called a "life-changing" prize after scoring $2 million on a lucky lottery ticket.

Joshua King, of Gastonia, stopped by the Times Turnaround on South New Hope Road on Friday (October 21) to pick up snacks ahead of a Halloween movie night with his son, deciding to also buy a $20 Mega 7's scratch-off ticket, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery.

"The last time that I bought a Mega 7's ticket I won $200 so I decided to try that one again," said King.

As it turns out, the ticket seemed to bring him some luck and then some. As the classic horror movie played in the background, King scratched his ticket to reveal an incredible and not-so-scary prize of $2 million. He and his son couldn't believe it.

"We both just started crying. I was honestly laughing and crying at the same time," he said, adding, "I called my parents and I was kind of hyperventilating when I was talking to them."

King claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Monday (October 24) where he had the choice of receiving his winnings as either an annuity of $100,000 per year over the course of 20 years or as a one time, lump sum payment of $1.2 million. He chose the latter, bringing home a whopping $852,126 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. When asked what he plans to do with his new prize, he told lottery officials he hopes to help out his family.

"I want to use the money to help take care of my family," he said. "Going to look into buying some property for the family to use."

According to lottery officials, King is the first to win a $2 million top prize in the game, which launched earlier this month. Three top prizes plus seven $100,000 prizes remain to be be claimed.