Charlotte cancer patient plans to travel the world after winning $250,000 lottery prize

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Charlotte man with stage four cancer is getting the opportunity to live out his dream after he won a $250,000 lottery prize.

Richard Beare says he plans to travel the world with his winnings.

"I recently got diagnosed with stage four liver cancer," Beare said. "I want to travel while I can still enjoy myself. My wife has always wanted to go to Italy since that's where her descendants are from. Now I can take her. "

Beare's luck came when he stopped to get a Powerball ticket at the Quik Trip on North Tryon Street in Charlotte.

"I rarely play the lottery," Beare said. "I only stopped because my wife asked me to get a Powerball ticket since the jackpot was so high."

He asked the clerk for four Carolina Black tickets.

"The fourth one was the winner," Beare said. "When I saw that I had matching numbers, I asked her, 'What does it mean if I match the numbers?' She said it meant I won a prize. I told her, 'Well, I guess we just won $250,000 then.' She was in shock and just kept looking back and forth to me and the ticket."

Beare claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $176,876.

"This feels great," Beare said when he got the check. "It's such a relief."