Man’s thirst leads to stop at convenience store and $1 million NC lottery jackpot

A thirsty home builder in search of a $2 bottle of water ended up with a $1 million winning lottery ticket, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery.

It happened to Dirk Swing at the Crossroad Mart in Lexington, about 60 miles northeast of Charlotte, lottery officials said in a release.

The odds of winning $1 million in the game are 1 in 2,149,000.00, but Swing took the news calmly, crediting fate: “I assume I was meant to have it for some reason,” he said in the release.

It was different with his wife. “

She dropped to the floor in tears,” Swing said.

Swing had the options of $50,000 annually for 20 years or “a lump sum of $600,000,” officials said. He went with the lump sum, which was whittled to $424,509 after tax withholdings, the release said.

Because of a statewide stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic, Swing did not have to show up in person to get his money in Raleigh, officials said. They instead deposited it in his account via electronic transfer, the release said.

Swing said he intends to invest some of it, donate some to charitable causes, and “hold on to a little bit because I like to play the games,” the release said.

His win came in the “$300,000 Supreme Riches” scratch-off game, which offers two prizes of $10 million and six prizes of $1 million, according to the lottery Website.

This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Man’s thirst leads to stop at convenience store and $1 million NC lottery jackpot."