A phone call on Wednesday afternoon seemed too good to be true for Diane Ingram of Hamlet when she found out she won $1 million in a second-chance drawing.

“Everybody dreams of this stuff,” Ingram said.

When she answered the phone, she received the news that she’d won the $1 million grand prize in the 200X The Cash second-chance drawing on Jan. 4. The drawing received more than 1.7 million entries.

“It seemed too good to be true,” she said. “When I got here, it finally started to feel real.”

Ingram, a 66-year-old substitute teacher, said she didn’t even realize the second-chance drawing happened until she got the call.

“I completely forgot about it,” Ingram said. “Out of sight, out of mind.”

When she arrived at lottery headquarters Friday to collect her prize, she had a decision to make. She could receive the prize as an annuity of $50,000 over 20 years or a lump sum of $600,000. She chose the lump sum of $600,000 and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $427,500.

“This is something I’ll be able to live on for the rest of my life,” she said.

Ingram said she will use the winnings to buy a new car, pay some bills, and take a trip to Alaska.

Players get a second chance with their 200X The Cash tickets by scanning the tickets into their lottery accounts. Winners of second-chance drawings get notified of their wins by email or phone call from the lottery. The 200X The Cash game features four second-chance drawings. The Jan. 4 drawing was the second drawing. Each drawing features one $1 million prize, one $200,000 prize, and 25 $500 prizes.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $3.2 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Richmond County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.