LaKisa McKethan, a Cumberland County mom and factory worker, watched in amazement Wednesday after she spun a giant prize wheel at the Bigger $pin Live Event and landed on a $500,000 prize.

“I was nervous but I’m happy,” McKethan said afterward. “It was fun.”

McKethan, a third-shift leader at a filter manufacturing plant, arrived at the Bigger $pin Live set guaranteed to take home at least $400,000. The top prize, $2 million, is four times bigger than the prize offered in the Big $pin game two years ago.

Asked what it was like to win the $500,000 prize, McKethan said, “I don’t know. I never had it happen before. I’m grateful.”

The Fayetteville native’s good luck began when she stopped at the VA VA Food Mart on Cumberland Road in Fayetteville to buy a $10 Bigger $pin scratch-off on her way home from work.

“When the Bigger $pin ticket came out, me and my sister used to try to compete with each other to see who could get the wheel,” laughed McKethan. “So, when I got the wheel I took a picture of it and I showed it to her.”

After required state and federal tax withholdings, McKethan took home $354,994. She said she plans to buy a house and give back anonymously to someone in need of medical treatment.

To watch highlights of McKethan’s winning moments, tune in to one of the TV stations in North Carolina that carry the nightly lottery drawings – WRAL in Raleigh, WAXN in Charlotte, WGHP in Triad, WITN in Eastern North Carolina, or WLOS in Western North Carolina - right after tonight’s11:22 p.m. lottery drawing.

McKethan is the third person to get a chance to win one of the $2 million prizes. At the first event in November, a retired Greensboro postal worker won $900,000 and a Durham cook won $400,000. Three more chances to win $2 million are up for grabs. Two more people can win a turn at the prize wheel on the scratch-off and a third person can win a turn in a second-chance drawing. All Bigger $pin tickets can be entered into the drawing.