Mr Brooks is planning to pay off his mortgage and share the prize with his family.
A North Carolina man is celebrating a life-changing windfall after a friend's social media post inspired him to buy a lottery ticket. Melvin Brooks told officials he purchased a $400,000 jackpot scratch-off ticket after seeing his friend win $100 on the same game.
Brooks scratched off the winning ticket in the parking lot of a Circle A Food Store on North Main Street in Mount Holly. He plans to use the prize money to pay off his mortgage and share it with his wife and daughters.
"I saw a friend's post that he won $100 on that scratch-off, so I decided to try it," Mr Brooks recalled.
He bought his lucky $5 ticket from Circle A Food Store on North Main Street in Mount Holly.
"I was with my cousin when I scratched the ticket in the parking lot," he said.
Brooks said they went out to celebrate after he won.
"It's not every day that you win $400,000," Brooks said.
He arrived at lottery headquarters Monday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $286,001.
Brooks said he plans to use his winnings to pay off his mortgage and help out his wife and daughters.
The $400,000 jackpot game debuted in April with five $400,000 top prizes. Four $400,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
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