Two lucky lottery players had a million reasons to smile this week after scratching off seven-figure instant wins.
Erika Aparicio, a greenhouse worker from Charlotte, won playing 50X The Cash. As proof that good fortune can show up anywhere, anytime – Aparicio's $1 million-winning ticket was the first one she ever played. “I couldn’t believe it because it was my first time buying a ticket and scratching it off,” Aparicio said. “It was too much emotion. I still can’t believe it right now.”
Our other $1 million winner, insulation contractor Todd Edge of Fayetteville, often buys tickets from Ms. Sudy's Country Store on Clinton Road. It was quite a scene after he scratched off a $4,000,000 Gold Buillion ticket there. “Everybody in the store started freaking out when they heard what I had won,” Edge said as he collected his winnings. “They were hugging and congratulating me. I’ve always wanted to come to Raleigh to claim a big prize. Now that I’m here, it hasn’t really sunk in.”
Further southeast in Columbus County, Barbara Hall stopped at the Wilco on South Madison Street in Whiteville to buy gas – and came away with much more. She heard the Green & Gold game was new, so she tried her luck on two tickets. As she scratched the second ticket in the store, she saw the $150,000 prize. “The store clerk heard I was excited. She said, ‘Oh my God, you’re a big winner!’” Hall recalled. “I said, ‘I am.’”
Troy Barrett of Charlotte was feeling sick until his wife brought him some lottery tickets to help him pass the time - and it was just what the doctor ordered. He scratched off the top prize of $100,000 playing Ultimate Crossword. “I was lying there scratching off the tickets and I thought I was seeing things,” Barrett said. “Needless to say, I started feeling a little better.”
Three Carolina Cash 5 jackpots were won since last week's big winner wrap-up, but two of them have yet to be claimed. George Harvell of Gibsonville in Alamance County won $50,000 in the Feb. 23 drawing. He bought his lucky ticket at the Eagle Food Mart in Gibsonville. The night before, someone who played Cash 5 at the Harris Teeter on N.C. 55 in Cary in Wake County won $149,427 in the Feb. 22 drawing. A $130,028 jackpot was won Thursday night by a ticket sold at the Whistle Express on West Main Street in Haw River in Alamance County.
Powerball player Edward Turner of Emerald Isle Power Played his way to $30,000 in the Feb. 19 drawing. David Berry of Greensboro won $10,000 in the same drawing.
A $10,000-winning Powerball ticket for the Feb. 26 drawing was sold at the Food Lion on North Point Boulevard in Winston-Salem, but is still unclaimed.
Here are some more instant winners:
Seven players scratched off $10,000 this week. The winners are from: Broadway, Candler, Charlotte, Holly Ridge, Marshall, Sanford, and Winston-Salem.
Melinda Brooks of Elizabeth City won $20,000 playing The Color of Money.
Three players won $50,000 instantly. They are Jorge Flores of Winston Salem (Super Loteria), Kristen Jones of Sylva (Gold Bar Bingo), and Linda Taylor of Carthage (Jumbo Bucks).
Not only does that wrap up the big winner wrap-up, the month of February is coming to a close as well. We hope you have a fun and safe weekend - and a lucky March! See you next time here in the Lucke-Zone.
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