Dad let his kids pick his lottery numbers in NC. Then he ‘started hyperventilating’
David Morris recently let his kids choose his lottery numbers for a Mega Millions ticket in North Carolina — and it paid off big.
The dad said he doesn’t usually play Mega Millions, according to an Aug. 4 news release from North Carolina Education Lottery officials. When he saw that the fourth-largest jackpot ever was up for grabs in the Aug. 1 drawing, he decided to buy a ticket at 7-Eleven in Pineville.
Following the drawing, Morris said he heard about an unclaimed $1 million ticket that was bought in Pineville, so he checked his ticket, officials said. That’s when he saw that his ticket was the winner.
“I started hyperventilating,” Morris said in the release. “I called my wife at work and told her to come home right away.”
After taxes, Morris took home $712,501, officials said.
“We want to buy some land up in the Smoky Mountains where my wife is from,” Morris told lottery officials.
As of Friday, Aug. 4, the Mega Millions jackpot reached $1.35 billion, the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot in the game’s history and the fourth-largest jackpot in U.S. history, according to officials.
Pineville is about 15 miles south of Charlotte.
This story was originally published August 4, 2023 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Dad let his kids pick his lottery numbers in NC. Then he ‘started hyperventilating’."
