A lucky pensioner has told how he bought a USD 100,000 winning lottery ticket on instinct.
Stephen Zick, 76, of Charlotte, North Carolina State, USA, told lottery officials that he had “felt a sudden urge to buy a scratch-off so he listened, leading to a USD 100,000 [GBP 82,600] lottery win.”
Newsflash obtained a statement from the North Carolina State Lottery dated 22nd November saying that Zick “stopped at the Food Lion on Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road in Charlotte to pick up a few things for his sister when he decided to buy his USD 20 [GBP 16.52] Platinum ticket.”
Zick said: “I was ready to leave the store but something just stopped me and told me to buy a ticket.”
The lucky winner said: “When I scratched it, I saw I won something but it wasn’t until I got home and my sister told me that I realized how much it was.”
He added: “I thought she was kidding.”
The North Carolina State Lottery said: “He collected his prize at lottery headquarters Monday and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home USD 71,016 [GBP 58,675].”
Zick said: “All I know is now I can get what I want. I really never expected that.”
The North Carolina State Lottery said: “Zick said he would give some money to his family and some to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as well.”
They added: “Platinum debuted in August with four USD 2 million [GBP 1,652,900] prizes and eight USD 100,000 prizes. Three USD 2 million prizes and four USD 100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.”
