Thirst for Dr Pepper leads to NC woman’s $2M lottery win. Now she plans to help others
A woman with a thirst for Dr Pepper stopped at a North Carolina store — and left with a lottery ticket worth $2 million.
Yolande Tyler was visiting Wilmington when she picked up the soda and several scratch-offs. Later, she decided to check the tickets and couldn’t contain herself when she realized how much she had won, the N.C. Education Lottery said Wednesday.
“When I started scratching the prize amount, I saw there was a 2,” Tyler, a Fayetteville resident, said in a news release. “And then when I kept scratching I saw an ‘M.’ I said, ‘Oh, this is $2 million!’ I started running through the house, screaming, telling my kids to wake up.”
It turns out, Tyler is an aspiring entrepreneur who plans to use the prize money to help others.
“I’m going to try and start my own business,” she told lottery officials. “I was thinking about doing community van services. There are so many elderly people who need rides and a lot of people don’t have family around.”
Tyler’s dream is closer to becoming reality after she went to a Han-Dee Hugo’s convenience store in Wilmington, where she spent $20 on her lucky 100X The Cash game ticket. She chose to take her prize money in a lump sum and kept $849,006 after taxes, officials said.
In addition to launching her business, Tyler said she hopes to save some money for her kids and pay other expenses.
“We can get our own house,” she remembers telling her children, according to the lottery. “I can pay my car off.”
It’s not the first time a craving has led someone to a jackpot prize.
Earlier in July, a North Carolina man was on a coffee run when he bought a $1 million lottery ticket.
And in South Carolina, a man grabbing a candy bar also tried his luck and won big, McClatchy News reported in February.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 8:12 AM with the headline "Thirst for Dr Pepper leads to NC woman’s $2M lottery win. Now she plans to help others."
