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A man in North Carolina's quick purchase led to a prize of $25,000 a year for life.
Babacar Samb, of Jamestown, recently purchased a Quick Pick ticket from the Great Stops on West Wendover Avenue for Sunday's (November 21) Lucky for Life drawing, per a release from the North Carolina Education Lottery. This choice ended up bringing him good luck, he found at later that night, when he saw that he won the day's largest prize: $25,000 each year for the rest of his life.
According to lottery officials, Samb is the third person in the past four weeks to win the $25,000 a year for life prize.
"I woke my wife up. She couldn't believe it," he said. "She said, 'No way.' I said, 'Yes, this is real. We did it.'"
When Samb claimed his winnings, he had two options to bring home the prize. He could either accept it as a $25,000 payment each year for the rest of his life or take home a one time lump sum payment of $390,000. Samb ended up choosing the latter, bringing home a total of $275,925 after all state and federal tax withholdings.
So what does he plan to do with his newfound winnings? He told lottery officials he wants to leave apartment living and buy a home for his family.
"Wow, it's amazing," he said. "It's like a dream right now. It's hard to believe."