Lois Parker of Clinton says she can’t wait to buy her dream truck after winning a $250,000 lottery prize playing the $250,000 Platinum Payout scratch-off game.

“I’ve always wanted just a big truck,” Parker said upon being presented with her big check. “That’s what I’ll do first. Then I might get a car or something.”

Parker purchased the lucky ticket from the Minuteman Food Mart on Lisbon Road in Clinton. Not wanting to wait until she got home, she started scratching her ticket right in the store.

“I started scratching and got excited,” Parker said recalling the moment. “Then I kept scratching and saw the amount and said, ‘This can’t be true. Wow!’ I scanned the ticket at the ticket checker in the store just to make sure!”

She claimed her prize Wednesday from lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $176,254.

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night,” Parker said laughing. “I doubt I will be able to sleep tonight!”

The $5 ticket launched in September 2016 with six top prizes of $250,000. One top prize remains.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million a year for education. For details on how $4.7 million raised by the lottery supported education programs in Sampson County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, https://www.nclottery.com.