Husband rushes to tell wife he won big in lottery. ‘We are going to enjoy this’
A lottery player “had to catch his breath” after he hit the jackpot in North Carolina.
Then, he rushed to tell his wife he was getting richer. He invited her to Raleigh, where six-figure prize winners must go to cash in on their lucky N.C. Education Lottery tickets, according to game rules.
“I called her and told her, ‘Meet me in Raleigh,’” William Carroll told lottery officials in a May 16 news release. “We are going to enjoy this.”
Carroll took his prize home to the town of Nashville, a roughly 45-mile drive northeast from Raleigh. He won $202,012 in Wheel of Bonuses, a progressive jackpot game that offers online tickets starting at 50 cents.
Carroll spent $30 on his ticket, which beat 1-in-a-million odds to win the game’s top-tier “epic” jackpot prize. He couldn’t believe his luck.
“I was trying to catch my breath,” the jackpot winner told lottery officials. “I was just stunned.”
Carroll “needed some time to compose himself,” but he didn’t waste much time before basking in the special moment with his wife. He kept $144,953 after taxes and plans to put his prize money toward bills, according to officials.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Carroll said. “I was pumped.”
It’s not the first time a husband immediately shared the news of his windfall. Another North Carolina lottery winner told his wife right away, but she thought he was joking, McClatchy News reported in March 2024.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Husband rushes to tell wife he won big in lottery. ‘We are going to enjoy this’."
