Pensioner who scooped £82,000 on lottery ‘just had sudden urge to buy a ticket’

A lucky pensioner who scooped the equivalent of more than £80,000 won the dosh only after he bought the scratch card because of instinct.

Stephen Zick, 76, from North Carolina in the United States, is tens of thousands of pounds richer after his ticket won in the state lottery.

Stephen, who lives in Charlotte, told lottery officials after he collected his money that he had "felt a sudden urge to buy a scratch-off so he listened, leading to a USD 100,000 [£82,000] lottery win”.

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A statement from the North Carolina State Lottery says that lucky Stephen "stopped at the Food Lion on Mt Holly-Huntersville Road in Charlotte to pick up a few things for his sister when he decided to buy his $20 [£16] Platinum ticket”.

The pensioner added: “I was ready to leave the store but something just stopped me and told me to buy a ticket.

“When I scratched it, I saw I won something but it wasn’t until I got home and my sister told me that I realised how much it was. I thought she was kidding.

“All I know is now I can get what I want. I really never expected that.”

The state lottery office said: "He collected his prize at lottery headquarters Monday and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,016 [£58,675].

“Zick said he would give some money to his family and some to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital as well."

The Platinum scratch cards were launched in August with $2million [£1.6million] prizes and eight $100,000 prizes.

According to the lottery office, three of the huge jackpots remain to be claimed, as well as a further four $100,000 wins.

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