An 18-year-old who has won a USD 1 million lottery jackpot has said that his grandfather predicted two weeks ago that he would win that exact amount.

Dalton Radford of Dallas, a town in Gaston County, in the US state of North Carolina, said that he was on his way to his second job after finishing work when he bought the winning ticket.

Newsflash obtained a statement from the North Carolina State Lottery dated Wednesday, 7th December and quoting Dalton as saying: “I left work and was going to my second job. I stopped for a White Monster drink and two Carolina Jackpot tickets.”

The North Carolina State Lottery said: “Radford, a public works employee, bought his lucky ticket Friday afternoon from Will’s Food Store III on Dallas High Shoals Highway in Dallas. He checked his tickets in the parking lot and discovered his win.”

Dalton said: “I thought, ‘Hey! I just won a million dollars. I called my mom, dad, and grandpa. Everyone was happy.”

Dalton explained that his win came after his grandpa made an interesting prediction, saying: “He said I would win USD 1 million [GBP 822,000] two weeks ago.”

The young man said he plans to save most of his prize money, but added that he does have one purchase planned.

He said: “I think I’ll buy a brand-new Silverado [pickup truck].”

Lottery officials said: “When he arrived at lottery headquarters Tuesday to collect his prize, he had a decision to make.

“He could choose to receive the prize as an annuity of USD 50,000 [GBP 41,132] over 20 years or a lump sum of USD 600,000 [GBP 493,584]. Radford chose the lump-sum amount of USD 600,000 and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home USD 426,063 [GBP 350,000].”