James Darlington of Mint Hill plans to open his own handyman business after he won half of a $223,832 Cash 5 jackpot.

“I’ve been wanting to start it for the last year and a half,” Darlington said. “This will finally let me do that.”

Darlington bought the $1 Quick Pick ticket at Earp’s Express on Brighton Park Drive in Charlotte.

He beat odds of one in 749,398 to win Friday’s jackpot. He found out he won the next morning when his wife pulled the numbers up on her phone.

“She said we matched all the numbers and started getting excited,” Darlington said. “I told her we couldn’t get excited until we made sure it was really happening.”

Darlington realized it was happening after he said he checked the numbers over and over again. He claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. His half of the jackpot is $111,916. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $77,783.

Janna Jenkins of Canton claimed the other half of the Cash 5 jackpot. That winning ticket was sold at George’s Mini Market on Old County Home Road in Asheville.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million dollars a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.