A celebration broke out in a Calabash convenience store after Donald Burgess of Ocean Isle Beach won a $100,000 prize on a scratch-off ticket.
“I was jumping up and down in the store,” he laughed. “I could have danced on the counter.”
Burgess, a 61-year-old handyman, bought his lucky $30 Fabulous Fortune ticket from the Calabash Food & Fuel on Beach Drive Southwest in Calabash.
“The store employees and customers were all congratulating me,” he recalled.
Burgess called the win a game changer for him and his daughter.
“It will certainly make our lives better,” he said. “I’m a single dad and this really and truly is a blessing.”
Burgess arrived at lottery headquarters Wednesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,259.
“I always dreamed something like this would happen, but I never really believed it until now,” he said.
Burgess said he will use the money to pay some bills and pay off his truck.
Fabulous Fortune debuted in July with six $3 million prizes and 18 $100,000 prizes. One $3 million top prize and six $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
The N.C. Education Lottery’s Play Smart™ program educates and empowers North Carolinians to make smart decisions when they play the lottery. Visit nclottery.com/PlaySmart to learn how the Play Smart program helps someone create a game plan to keep lottery play fun. If playing the lottery has become more than a game, visit morethanagame.nc.gov/ for free, confidential help.