RALEIGH, N.C. — William Scott,of Emerald Isle is living the dream--or a dream. He was celebrating his 18th wedding anniversary last week and all they wanted was pizza. Well, that pizza run ended with at $1.1 million Cash 5 jackpot win.
“It’s the best gift we could ask for,” Scott said. “It’s all surreal.” Scott told NC Education Lottery officials he stopped at the Coastal Mart on Emerald Drive and bought a Cash 5 ticket for Sunday’s (August 18) drawing. He checked the ticket the next day when his wife told him someone from Emerald Isle won the Cash 5 jackpot.
“I thought, ‘What are the odds that this could be me?’” Scott said. “Then she said the ticket was sold at the Coastal Mart. I thought, ‘Wait. This really could be me. When I checked the numbers and saw that I had the winning ticket I couldn’t believe it.” “He held the ticket up in the air yelling, ‘I did it. It’s a winner,’” Scott’s wife Molly said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we won!’”
Scott claimed his prize Friday and after the required state and federal taxes were deducted, he took home $787,242. He said he plans to use the money for retirement.
“As a school teacher you never imagine six figures,” Scott said. “To know that we have this for retirement is just a blessing. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
His ticket beat odds of one in 962,598 to win the jackpot. The jackpot for tonight’s drawing is $216,000.
Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night.
