North Carolina man’s regular walk turns extraordinary thanks to a lucky lottery prize
A man’s regular walk took a lucky turn, thanks to a North Carolina lottery prize.
Raymond Truesdale was on his daily stroll when he snagged a ticket that was worth $25,000 each year for the rest of his life, the N.C. Education Lottery said last week in a news release.
“I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t get excited,’” Truesdale told the lottery. “’Don’t make no big changes.’”
After all, it was routine that led to Truesdale’s big win.
While walking in Salisbury, he made his usual stop at Speedway on East Innes Street, officials say. That’s where he decided to buy tickets for the Lucky for Life game and used his own numbers on at least one of them, according to the lottery.
“I try to stick with the same numbers two or three times, then I’ll change and get some new ones,” Truesdale said in the N.C. Education Lottery news release.
Truesdale later walked to the same convenience store to find out how his ticket fared in the June 1 prize drawing. It turns out, he beat 1-in-1.8 million odds to win $25,000 a year, the release said.
“He could hardly believe it,” the lottery wrote on Twitter.
Truesdale chose to take the lump sum, getting $275,925 after taxes, officials say. He said he plans to put the money toward buying a new car for himself and a house for at least one of his children, according to the news release.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 10:12 AM with the headline "North Carolina man’s regular walk turns extraordinary thanks to a lucky lottery prize."
