Expecting dad wanted a NC lottery ticket that was sold out. He won big on another one.
With a baby on the way, a North Carolina man oddly enough had the best of luck when he learned the lottery ticket he wanted to buy was sold out, N.C. lottery officials said.
Douglas Hurlock decided to buy a ticket in a different game and scratched-off a $100,000 prize, according to a lottery news release on Friday.
“Now my child’s medical care will be taken care of when he’s born,” Hurlock said when he claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday.
His son is due in late November, he said.
Hurlock lives in Havelock, a city on the Neuse River that’s home to Cherry Point, the largest Marine Corps air station in the world.
He told The Charlotte Observer on Saturday that he works as a clerk and stocker at U.S. Mini Mart outside the entrance to Cherry Point. His wife, Amanda, works for the American Red Cross, he said.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, because I normally break even,” the 39-year-old told the Observer. “I handed it to my wife to look at.”
Hurlock bought the $25 ticket at the Speedway on East Main Street in Havelock.
He beat odds of 1 in 4.26 million, according to the Spectacular Riches page on NC Lottery.com.
After taxes, Hurlock took home $71,017, according to the lottery.
The Spectacular Riches game launched in October with eight top $1 million prizes and 20 $100,000 prizes. Three $1 million and nine $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed, lottery officials said.
This story was originally published September 10, 2022 at 5:59 PM.