RALEIGH – Rocky Mount resident Larry Smith, an EMS worker for the Durham VA Medical Center, says he plans to use the $200,000 he won playing the Break the Bank game to pay bills, pay down his mortgage, purchase a new car for his wife and have some fun.

“When I scratched off the ticket I thought I may have won $10 or something,” Smith said. “When I saw it was $200,000, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I may even get a motorcycle as a late birthday present to myself.”

Smith purchased his lucky $5 ticket, worth $138,401 after taxes, at the Wilco on English Road in Rocky Mount. As of Wednesday afternoon, three more top prizes remain to be claimed in the game.

“I feel like a winner,” Smith said as he collected his winnings on Wednesday. “I’m very blessed.”

Ticket sales have made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $3.4 billion for the state. North Carolina Education Lottery net proceeds will be used this year to help pay salaries of teachers and teacher assistants, for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, school construction and repair, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

For details on how more than $18 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Edgecombe County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.