NC man with morning routine of checking lottery tickets gets a big breakfast surprise
A man says he perked up when his morning routine of checking his lottery tickets led to a big surprise in North Carolina.
“I’m still in awe about it,” Mychael Patterson said about winning the option of $25,000 a year for the rest of his life, according to a news release from the N.C. Education Lottery.
Patterson’s good fortune started when he was following another routine.
Last month, officials say Patterson stopped at Sandy Ridge Service LLC, a store in Rowan County where he usually buys lottery tickets. During his lucky trip, he decided on the Quick Pick option, meaning a machine chose his numbers, according to the news release.
The next morning, officials say Patterson was getting breakfast when he used his phone’s N.C. Lottery app to scan tickets for the Lucky for Life game. That’s when a message told him to go to the lottery’s headquarters in Raleigh, a visit required for anyone claiming a prize greater than $100,000, according to the news release.
His ticket beat 1-in-1.8 million odds to snag the prize in the June 15 drawing.
The lottery says Patterson, whose age was not disclosed, decided to take his prize money in a lump sum and gets to keep $275,929 after taxes.
“With the amount of money I won, I can prepare to retire,” he told officials. “I’m still gonna work as long as I feel like working. I’ll share some of it around to different people, because I feel good about it and I’m gonna make them feel good, too.”
Patterson is a truck driver and lives in Kannapolis, roughly 30 miles northeast of Charlotte.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 4:02 PM with the headline "NC man with morning routine of checking lottery tickets gets a big breakfast surprise."
