‘People are depending on me.’ NC lottery player has big plans for her prize winnings
A woman who hit the jackpot in North Carolina plans to keep her winnings close to home.
“I just like the idea of knowing that I have that money in case something happens because so many people are depending on me,” Deborah Seay told the N.C. Education Lottery.
Seay, who bought a ticket worth $186,766, said winning the big prize will help her care for family, according to a news release published Thursday.
“My brother passed away last year, so my 85-year-old mother came to live with me,” Seay said in the release. “I adopted my autistic grandchild June the 10th and my older son has a disability.”
Her good fortune started when she went to the Silver Express in Kings Mountain, officials said. The store is in Cleveland County and roughly 30 miles west of Charlotte.
That’s where she decided to try her luck on a ticket for the Carolina Cash 5 game. Seay chose the Quick Pick option, meaning a machine chose her numbers for the Aug. 3 drawing, according to the news release.
And when she cleaned out her wallet the next day, she discovered her lottery ticket was a big prize winner, officials said in the release.
“I pulled out the numbers and I looked and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Seay told the N.C. Education Lottery.
Seay, who works in apartment management, kept $132,137 after taxes. She told officials her winnings will give a boost to her relatives, and she also has her eyes on a dream home near a lake.
This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 3:51 PM with the headline "‘People are depending on me.’ NC lottery player has big plans for her prize winnings."
