Courtney Wallick of Statesville will be celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday and her four-year wedding anniversary with a trip to the mountains thanks to a $100,000 prize she won playing $300,000,000 Supreme Riches.
“It’s time for a vacation,” said Wallick. “We are going to rent a cabin in Tennessee to celebrate. I just feel such euphoria. That’s really the only way to describe it — euphoric.”
The emergency room nurse’s good fortune happened when she stopped by Food Lion on Old Mountain Road in Statesville after she “had a hankering” to buy a ticket. Not wanting to let the lucky feeling pass her by, she got in her car and started scratching.
“When you buy a ticket you think about all the things you could do if you win,” said Wallick. “So you can’t go home. You have to scratch it right in the car. So of course I grabbed my lucky penny and started scratching. I was so excited to see I had won!”
Wallick claimed her prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $70,759. Besides taking a well-deserved vacation with her husband, she plans to give back to her family.
“You know, Christmas is right around the corner,” said Wallick. “It’s my absolute favorite holiday and this year I get to provide. I get to finally provide for my whole family and that makes me so happy.”
The $30 ticket launched in April with four $10 million prizes and six $1 million prizes. Three $10 million prizes and four $1 million prizes remain. Players also have a chance to win $1 million by entering their tickets into second-chance drawings. Three drawings remain.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds make a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.