'A miracle:' NC great-grandmother strikes it rich with $10M scratch-off win

Tuesday, January 1, 2019
GROVER, N.C. (WTVD) -- It is a very happy new year for Dorothy Martin. The great-grandmother from the Cleveland County town of Grover did not need to eat collard greens or black-eyed peas for good fortune in 2019. She won a $10 million scratch-off North Carolina Education Lottery prize.

"It's a miracle!" Martin said to lottery officials. "I still can't believe this is happening."
[Ads /]
She bought an Extreme Millions scratch-off ticket and could not believe her eyes.

"I started at the bottom," Martin said. "I didn't match any of the numbers. When I got to the top, I closed my eyes and scratched. When I opened them I couldn't believe it. I just thought, 'Could this be real?'"

Martin says returned to the Number Three Handy Mart and asked the clerk to check her ticket.
[Ads /]
"I told her, 'If this is real, you better call the paramedics now. I'm sure I'll have a heart attack,'" Martin said.

Martin had the option of a $10 million annuity, 20 payments of $500,000 a year, or a lump sum of $6 million. She chose the lump sum and after taxes took home $4,230,069.



Martin says she plans to use some of the money to get a new home and help her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Copyright © 2024 WTVD-TV. All Rights Reserved.