Man collapses beside his truck after realizing NC lottery ticket hit the jackpot

A man with 22 grandchildren says his legs buckled when he realized a $30 Max-A-Million ticket won a jackpot prize in the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Jesse Johnson of Snow Hill was standing in a parking lot Wednesday morning when he scratched off the ticket, and “his feet gave out beneath him,” lottery officials said in a Jan. 8 news release.

“I just fell down beside my truck. I couldn’t believe it,” Johnson said in the release. “I guess I was just in the right place at the right time.”

He then called his wife to tell her, and the words wouldn’t come, officials said. “I couldn’t really talk over the phone I was so excited,” he said.

Johnson bought the ticket at Nour Tobacco on North Queen Street in Kinston, and it beat odds of 1 in 363,970.8.

A prize that big can be claimed in one of two ways: Installments of $50,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000.

“He chose the lump sum of $600,000 and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $432,068,” lottery officials said.

Johnson plans to use the money “to help take care of his 22 grandchildren,” officials said.

Kinston is about an 80-mile drive southeast from downtown Raleigh.

This story was originally published January 9, 2026 at 7:16 AM with the headline "Man collapses beside his truck after realizing NC lottery ticket hit the jackpot."