School bus driver wins big NC prize after lottery numbers ‘popped’ into her head
A school bus driver won big in the North Carolina lottery after lucky numbers “popped” into her head.
She used that combination of picks to score a ticket worth $100,000 in the Powerball game, the N.C. Education Lottery said Monday in a news release.
“It is just something that popped in my head years ago,” winner Carolyn Honeycutt said in the release. “I’ve played it ever since.”
Honeycutt’s good fortune came after she went to Sam’s Mini Stop in Concord. At the store roughly 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, officials say she tried her luck on a Power Play ticket that cost $3.
During the drawing on Oct. 17, that ticket matched enough numbers to snag a $100,000 prize, according to the N.C. Education Lottery.
“It’s a crazy feeling,” Honeycutt, who drives a school bus in Cabarrus County, told the lottery.
Honeycutt got to keep $70,751 after taxes and told officials she hasn’t made plans for spending the prize with her partner Laura Morris.
“There’s a lot you want to do when you win money,” Honeycutt said in the lottery’s news release. “You want to share with your friends, your family, the church. Helping people out. That means a lot.”
It wasn’t the first time a school bus driver got a big windfall in North Carolina.
Earlier this month, a $200,000 lottery prize left a Sampson County Schools employee screaming on the roadside, McClatchy News reported.
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 October 27, 2020 at 10:59 AM.
