Man credits store clerk for big lottery win in NC. ‘You've just changed my life'

Miami Herald

28-05-2025

A North Carolina man almost walked away from a lottery ticket that held a life-changing prize, lottery officials said.
Kenneth Skipper tried to purchase the ticket three times, but the card reader wasn't working, he told the North Carolina Education Lottery, according to a May 27 news release.
It was the clerk who encouraged him to try one more time, leading him to a $2 million jackpot prize in the $2 Million Vault game, lottery officials said.
Skipper said he stared at the ticket after he learned of the win for about five minutes, according to the lottery.
'I called my wife and told her, 'I think I just won the lottery,'' he said. 'She started freaking out.'
Then, Skipper told lottery officials he went back into the store and found the clerk.
'I pulled her to the side and said, 'You've just changed my life,'' Skipper said, according to the lottery.
He bought the winning ticket from a convenience store in Fayetteville, about a 140-mile drive southeast from Charlotte, lottery officials said.
He plans to use the prize to pay bills and give to his church, the lottery said.
The $2 Million Vault game began May 6 and features prizes ranging from $20 to the $2 million jackpot, according to the game's web page.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 1,729,430, and the odds of winning overall are 1 in 3.35, lottery officials said.
Two out of three jackpot prizes remain to be claimed, the lottery said.