‘Wild hair’ leads Lincoln County man to a $10 million prize

Sean McIntosh of Maiden said a wild hair convinced him to purchase a $50 scratch-off Wednesday and it paid off when he uncovered a $10 million prize.

“If I get a wild hair to do something, I’m going to listen,” he laughed.

McIntosh bought the lucky $10 Million Spectacular ticket from Jones Exxon Inc. on N.C. 16 South in Stanley.

“It was actually the first time I’ve bought a $50 ticket,” he said. “I won $100 earlier on a $5 ticket so I decided to give it a try.”

McIntosh said he didn’t know how to react when he found out he won.

“It’s just been a blur since then,” he said. “When you buy it, you never really expect something like this to actually happen.”

When McIntosh arrived to collect his winnings, he had a decision to make. He could choose to receive the prize as an annuity of $500,000 a year over 20 years or take a lump sum of $6 million. He chose the lump sum of $6 million and, after state and federal tax withholdings, took home $4,290,014.

McIntosh said he plans to invest his winnings and use it to take care of his children.

The $10 Million Spectacular game debuted in December with five top prizes of $10 million, 20 prizes of $1 million and 20 prizes of $100,000. Three $10 million prizes, 15 $1 million prizes and 12 $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.