Man starts slapping himself when he sees North Carolina lottery winnings. ‘Am I awake?’
A North Carolina man has a promise to fulfill now that he’s claimed a big lottery win.
Rickey Gunthrope, a Salisbury resident, decided to grab a $1 Cash 5 ticket from a Food Lion in Spencer on Sunday, Oct. 22, North Carolina Education Lottery officials said in an Oct. 24 news release. But Gunthrope wasn’t the only person with an interest in him winning.
Earlier, Gunthrope’s nephew’s car broke down, he told lottery officials, so he swore he’d get him a new one if he won any money. He chose the same number combination he always uses for the ticket, because he told himself “one day it would come for me,” Gunthrope said in the release.
The next morning, Gunthrope woke up to a surprise. He had matched all five numbers in the drawing for the jackpot: $200,260.
“When I saw my numbers, I just started slapping myself because I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said in the release. “I was like, ‘Am I awake?’”
But there was one person he had to make sure to include in his celebration: his nephew.
“I called him this morning and told him to go shopping,” Gunthrope said in the release.
Gunthrope traveled to the N.C. Education Lottery headquarters in Raleigh to collect his prize, which totaled $142,686 after taxes. The big win made him feel “wonderful,” he said in the lottery’s YouTube video.
“It looks so beautiful,” Gunthrope said in the video, laughing while he held his big check.
The next step for Gunthrope is to get his nephew his new car, otherwise he’d feel guilty, he said in the video. He also will use some of the money for repairs on his house.
Salisbury is about 40 miles northeast of Charlotte.
This story was originally published October 25, 2023 at 9:25 AM with the headline "Man starts slapping himself when he sees North Carolina lottery winnings. ‘Am I awake?’."
