Trucker plans to help mom after $10 million win in NC lottery. ‘I’ll get to me later’
From The Charlotte Observer:
A truck driver has big plans after winning $10 million in the North Carolina lottery.
Howard Poole hopes to use his prize money to buy his mom a house and help other relatives, the N.C. Education Lottery said last week in a news release.
“I’ll get to me later,” Poole told lottery officials. “I try to not let money stuff change me. I want to stay the same.”
Poole’s good luck started when he went to Sandy Cross Mart 2 in Burlington, roughly 30 miles east of downtown Greensboro. While claiming a $20 prize, officials said Poole decided to try his luck on another ticket.
This time around, he reportedly spent $30 to play the $10,000,000 Colossal Cash scratch-off game. And when he checked the ticket, he was in for a big surprise.
“I saw the numbers matching, and I was excited,” Poole told lottery officials.
It turns out, Poole won the game’s top prize of $10 million. He decided to get the money in a lump sum and kept about $4.2 million after taxes, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.
In addition to helping his mom, Poole plans to share his winnings with “other family members, including a brother who has cancer,” the lottery said in its news release.
It’s not the first time someone has hit the jackpot after winning a smaller North Carolina lottery prize.
In October, officials said a man was on the way to the dentist when he cashed in a $20 ticket — and bought a scratch-off worth $750,000.
The month before, a woman won $100 just before her husband’s lottery ticket scored a much bigger prize, McClatchy News reported.