Lottery winner left ‘screaming at the top of my lungs.’ Her family didn’t believe her
A North Carolina lottery player raced to tell her relatives she won $1 million — but they didn’t believe her.
“I play tricks sometimes and pick on them so they needed to see proof,” Sharon Culpepper told the N.C. Education Lottery.
But the win was the real deal, and Culpepper couldn’t contain herself when she learned she was getting richer.
“I jumped out of my car and ran into my house screaming at the top of my lungs,” Culpepper told lottery officials Jan. 11 in a news release. “Then I just dropped to my knees and hit the floor.”
Culpepper broke out in celebration after she went to a BP gas station near the coast in Newport. While there, she spent $10 to play the Multiplier Mania game, officials said.
It turns out, Culpepper’s scratch-off ticket beat 1-in-1.3 million odds to score the game’s top prize. When she realized she hit the jackpot, she rushed to share the good news with her skeptical family members.
“This is a game changer for me,” Culpepper said. “The first part of 2024 is looking outstanding.”
Culpepper decided to take her prize in a lump sum and kept $429,003 after taxes. Now, she hopes to “buy a new car, pay some bills, do some home repairs, and take a cruise to the Caribbean,” officials said.
Culpepper is from Newport, a Carteret County town roughly 140 miles southeast of Raleigh.
It’s not the first time a loved one thought a North Carolina lottery winner was joking. Recently, several family members haven’t taken their lucky relatives seriously, McClatchy News reported.
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