North Carolina Man Wins $200,000 Lottery Prize on the Way to His Last Chemotherapy Treatment
Ronnie Foster has a lot of reasons to celebrate.
The retired Department of Transportation worker, of Pink Hill, North Carolina, was on the way to his final round of chemotherapy amid his ongoing colon cancer treatment when he stopped to buy a lottery scratch-off ticket — and won $200,000.
“I was already happy because it was my last round of chemo,” Foster told the North Carolina Education Lottery, according to a press release. “Winning this made it my lucky day.”
Foster purchased his Win It All scratch-off at the Short Stop on Jackson Street in Beulaville.
He only spent $6 to make his $200,000.
“I bought a $1 ticket and won $5,” Foster explained. “I decided to trade it in for a $5 ticket. At the last second, I decided to buy two tickets instead of one.”
The first ticket didn’t score Foster anything. The second one, though, was the winning prize.
“I saw all those zeroes and I froze,” Foster recalled to the lottery’s website. “I didn’t believe it until I gave it to the clerk at the counter to scan. When it showed, ‘Go to lottery headquarters,’ I started shaking. I couldn’t believe it.”
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Foster was diagnosed with colon cancer in January, CBS News reported. He underwent surgery in February and has been getting chemotherapy treatments since April.
He plans to use his winnings to help pay his medical bills.
“I have good insurance,” Foster told North Carolina Education Lottery. “But there is still some cost. This will make it a whole lot easier.”
Foster claimed his prize on Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. The final amount after required state and federal tax withholdings? $141,501.
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That makes Foster’s win the top prize for Win It All, the scratch-off contest that launched in December 2018 and was scheduled to end in November.
The North Carolina Education Lottery says ticket sales from games like Win It All make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education.
