GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A Stanley man was running errands on Christmas Day when he decided to buy a scratch-off ticket in Denver and instantly won $750,000.
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Arthur Mclean stopped in the Stop N Save Mart on N.C. 73 and bought two Jumbo Bucks scratch-offs.
“I had to pick something up from the store,” Mclean said. “I thought to myself, ‘Might as well stop and grab a lottery ticket.’”
That last-minute decision paid off big for Mclean and his wife.
“I was in my truck,” Mclean said. “I got to the winning ticket and was shocked! I had to go back into the store and have them scan it. When the noises went off that told me I had won, I still didn’t believe it. I had to have them scan it twice!”
The real gift, Mclean said, arrived when he told his wife the good news.
“I went home and told my wife that we had won $750,000,” he said. “She jumped right off the bed screaming, ‘You’re kidding me!’ So, I gave her the ticket and she said, ‘Wooo — we sure did!’”
Mclean claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $530,628.
“I’ve got children,” said Mclean. “I’d like to help them out, fix up our house a bit and put the rest in the bank.”
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