‘We were both in shock.’ Couple wins NC lottery and announces unusual first purchase

It’s easy for lottery winners to justify extravagant spending, but Alvin Turner and his wife are apparently not average.

He only spent $1 for a North Carolina lottery ticket, then refused to believe it when the numbers lined up for a $624,134 prize.

The odds of matching all five numbers in the Cash 5 drawing are 1-in-962,598, so skepticism was understandable.

“I woke (my wife) up. I thought I was reading it wrong,” Turner said in a release from the N.C. Education Lottery.

She confirmed the prize was real.

“We were both in shock,” he said.

Turner picked up his cash Feb. 20, after driving the 200 miles from his home in Nebo to lottery headquarters in Raleigh, officials said. The prize in the Feb. 19 drawing came to $446,256 after state and federal taxes were withheld.

That’s enough money for maybe a new house and at least one sports car, but the couple has a more down-to-earth plan, officials said.

First, they intend to pay off their bills.

Then, they’ll buy ... a tractor. Yes, a tractor.

Details of why they want a tractor were not released — including whether they have a farm — but his wife really wants one, the release says.

Turner got his ticket at KG’s Quik Stop in Marion, which is about 5 miles southwest of the couple’s Nebo home.

This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 11:40 AM with the headline "‘We were both in shock.’ Couple wins NC lottery and announces unusual first purchase."