William Parks Jr. of Jacksonville never considered himself lucky, but said that changed when he followed a feeling to win $750,000 playing the Jumbo Bucks scratch-off game.

“Something just told me to buy the ticket,” Parks said.

Parks, who served in the Marine Corps for 20 years, decided to get the $10 ticket while he was at the Kangaroo Express on Piney Green Road in Jacksonville.

When he scratched the ticket he couldn’t believe what he saw, “At first I thought, ‘Man there’s something wrong with this ticket,’” said Parks, who now works as a finance manager at an automobile dealer.

He looked at it multiple times and then handed it to the clerk to double check. Once the clerk told him he did indeed have a winning ticket, Parks immediately called his wife who was shocked by the news. “I had to send her a picture of the ticket before she’d believe me,” Parks said.

Parks claimed the prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings he took home $519,378. He plans to make a donation to his church, pay off his house, and save the rest for retirement.

Ticket sales from games like Jumbo Bucks made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million for the state last year. For details on how more than $67.3 million in lottery funds has made a difference in Onslow County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.