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A man in North Carolina is celebrating a huge lottery win with his wife after they won big over the weekend.
Teddy Sparks, of Hubert, had just watched a movie with his wife when they stopped by the Circle K on North Marine Boulevard in Jacksonville to pick up a scratch-off lottery ticket, according to a release from NC Education Lottery. The 68-year-old Onslow County man bought a $25 Spectacular Riches ticket and his wife began to scratch it off.
"My wife was scratching the ticket and then her hands started shaking and she started freaking out," he recalled.
She had reason to be surprised, discovering that the ticket won one of the game's $100,000 prizes.
"I told her, 'Don't freak out and have a heart attack before we can get the money,'" he joked.
Sparks claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Monday (December 19), taking home a grand total of $71,017 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. When asked what he plans to do with his new winnings, he told lottery officials he wants to pay some bills and save the rest.
According to the state lottery, the Spectacular Riches game launched in September 2021 with eight top prizes of $1 million and 20 $100,000 prizes. Following Sparks' win, seven $100,000 prizes and two $1 million prizes remain to be claimed.