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Donald Holloman of Farmville said a decision to visit a friend led him down the path to a $130,290 Cash 5 jackpot.
Holloman, a construction worker, was driving home Wednesday evening when he came to a crossroads.
“I was at the light and thought, ‘If I go to the left, I can go straight home. If I go to the right, it will take an extra hour, but I can visit my friend who recently lost his father,’” Holloman said. “I decided to turn right.”
After the visit, Holloman stopped at the Minuteman Food Mart on Broad Street in St. Pauls to buy gas. While there, he decided to get some $1 Quick Pick Cash 5 tickets for Wednesday’s drawing.
Early this morning, he called the lottery helpline to check the numbers.
“When I heard what they were, I dropped the phone and woke up my wife,” Holloman said. “I told her, ‘Get up. We just won the jackpot!’ She didn’t believe me until she called herself. Then she woke up all the kids to celebrate.”
Holloman claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $90,553. He plans to use some of the money to improve his house.
“My wife has wanted a new floor for a long time,” Holloman said. “Before I left this morning, I told her, ‘I’m finally going to get you those hardwood floors you want.’”
Holloman beat odds of one in 749,398 to win the jackpot.
“Just think, if I hadn’t made that decision to visit my friend, this never would have happened,” Holloman said.
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.
Congratulations!
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