Text message leads Chapel Hill woman to $1M lotto win
A Chapel Hill woman said a text message led her to a $1 million lottery win.
“My coworker texted during my lunch break on Friday to ask me to pick up a Red Bull,” said Sue Manchester, who works for an electrical contract company.
Manchester said her usual gas station was too busy, so she stopped at an Eagles station on U.S. 15-501 in Chapel Hill and bought a Colossal Cash scratch-off ticket.
“I grabbed the Red Bull and then noticed I had a $20 and a $10 bill,” Manchester said. “I decided to get one of the tickets since my coworker has been winning on it recently.”
When Manchester scratched the ticket back at her office, she couldn't believe it.
“I saw the symbol and was like, ‘No. This doesn’t happen.’” Manchester said. “I showed the same coworker and he said, ‘Sue, you just won $1 million’. I still didn’t believe it. It’s very serendipitous. Especially since I rarely get scratch-off tickets.”
Manchester claimed her prize Wednesday in Raleigh. Instead of taking an annuity of 20 payments of $50,000 a year, she chose a lump sum of $600,000. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $423,010.
Manchester said she plans to use some of the money to pay off her car.
