When Anthony Whigham of High Point saw the Cash 5 jackpot had topped $1 million in the Nov. 4 drawing, he knew he had to get a ticket. And good thing he did because he became one of three lucky winners.

“I’m just proud that I was one of them,” said Whigham of being one of the winners in the $1,007,160 jackpot. “I was really shocked to know that I had won.”

Whigham, a retired Air Force aircraft mechanic and structural specialist of 25 years, bought his winning Quick Pick ticket from the Fuel + on Regency Drive in High Point.

The morning after the drawing he was sitting in a church parking lot and decided to check his tickets.

“I scanned my ticket and it notified me that I needed to go to the lottery commission to turn in my ticket to claim my winnings,” recalled Whigham. “I had to get my stomach out of my throat.”

He claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He received one third of the jackpot, $335,720. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $237,522.

“I’m semi-retired,” the Air Force veteran turned locksmith said. “That’s gonna pay off most of my bills so I’ll be closer to a retirement that I can enjoy.”

Carolina Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Friday’s jackpot is $110,000. The odds of winning a jackpot are 1 in 962,598.

Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million a year for education. For details on how $31.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Guilford County in 2019, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.