Lottery player trusts gut and wins life-changing NC jackpot. ‘Had to calm myself down’
A lottery player trusted her gut — and won a life-changing prize in North Carolina.
“I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” Donna Smith of Huntersville told the N.C. Education Lottery. “I had to calm myself down.”
Smith “could barely contain her excitement” after she discovered her scratch-off ticket was worth $700,000, lottery officials wrote June 18 in a news release.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Smith said as she claimed her six-figure prize.
The winner bought her lucky ticket in Huntersville, a Charlotte suburb. She was at the Run-In store when she felt drawn to spend $10 on a ticket for the Triple 777 game.
“That was just what my mind told me to buy,” she told lottery officials.
Smith’s instinct was spot-on, leading her to score the game’s top prize, which totaled $500,503 after taxes. After the surprising win, Smith said she hopes to spend money on her car, house, church and family.
It’s not the first time someone’s intuition led them to a jackpot win. Another North Carolina lottery player with a hunch bought a ticket that made him much richer, McClatchy News reported in April.
This story was originally published June 20, 2024 at 12:35 PM with the headline "Lottery player trusts gut and wins life-changing NC jackpot. ‘Had to calm myself down’."
