RALEIGH — Trena Nicholson of Hamlet won a $2 million top prize from a Ruby Red 7’s scratch-off ticket, officials with the N.C. Education Lottery announced on Friday.
Nicholson purchased the winning ticket at the Speedway on West Hamlet Avenue in Hamlet and chose to receive her prize as a lump sum of $1.2 million, taking home $861,006 after taxes.
“I was jumping up and down screaming,” Nicholson said of her reaction to winning.
Nicholson, a mother of six, immediately called her children to share the news of her big win.
“I called my daughter and was like, ‘I won, I won, I won,’” she recalled.
She mentioned that she always believed she would win big one day, saying, “I just had the feeling. I told them it would happen.”
The Ruby Red 7’s game, which debuted this month, offers three $2 million top prizes, with two still available to be claimed.
Nicholson plans to use her winnings to share with her children and pay bills, marking a significant change in her life.
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