RALEIGH — Chasta Buff, of Vale, told N.C. Education Lottery officials that she sat in her truck on Saturday scratching a $5 lottery ticket when she realized she just uncovered a $200,000 top prize.
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“It just didn’t seem real,” she recalled. “It still doesn’t.”
Buff wanted to ensure the Mega Bucks ticket was real so she walked back into the store where she bought the ticket: Vale Mart & Hardware on North N.C. She scanned her ticket and confirmed her big win.
“For us, this is life-changing,” she said. “We really needed this.”
Buff said she already knows how she will spend her winnings.
“We can finally look at buying a house now,” Buff said.
After taxes, she took home $143,001.