By WECT Staff | January 23, 2021 at 2:11 PM EST – Updated January 26 at 1:20 PM
LELAND, N.C. (WECT) – After an unlucky start to the day, a Leland man managed to turn things around after realizing his Mega Millions ticket netted him $2 million.
The morning after the drawing, Anthony Dowe was on his way to work when he got into an accident.
“I hit two deer with my brand-new car,” he recalled. “So, I just got mad, went back home, got into bed and went to sleep. Then I woke up and checked my tickets. I checked the fourth ticket and I saw the “4” and then the next number and the next number and the next number,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Wow!’ It was just crazy.”
Dowe, who works in shipping and receiving, bought the winning $3 Quick Pick ticket at the Minuteman Food Mart on Mercantile Drive in Leland.
His ticket matched all five white white balls for $1 million, which turned into $2 million due to the 2X “Megaplier.”
“I went and showed my dad and my mom and everybody was happy,” said Dowe.
He claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and took home $1,415,001 after required federal and state tax withholdings.
“It just feels great,” said Dowe of his big win. “I’m just gonna fix things on my mother and father’s house and get my car fixed, pay it off, and pay my niece’s car off.” The rest, he says, will go into savings.
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