Oct. 04–HIGH POINT — A High Point man and his wife are millions richer after buying a winning Extreme Millions scratch-off lottery ticket at a local convenience store.
Monte Hukill and his wife, Gage, are the first players to win the top $10 million prize, the N.C. Education Lottery said in a news release.
Hukill, who is a Marine Corps veteran, bought the ticket at Fairway One Stop on Greensboro Road.
While watching Thursday night football, Hukill said he would scratch off a number and then look back at the game.
“I wasn’t paying attention, but that sure did change,” he said. “I walked over to the stairs and yelled, ‘Hey honey, you might want to come down here.'”
Gage Hukill, a high school English teacher, said she ran downstairs and her husband showed her the ticket.
“He showed me the ticket and I just thought, ‘No way, things like this just don’t happen to ordinary people like us,'” she said.
The Huskills put the winning ticket on their nightstand and tried to go to sleep.
“I think I slept with one eye open,” Monte Hukill said. “I knew I had won, I just knew it.”
The couple woke up at 5 a.m., Gage Hukill went to school and finished her lesson plans for the day and then the pair took off for Raleigh with the ticket in hand.
“The whole ride down I kept telling him to prepare because it might not be real,” Gage Hukill said.
Hukill chose to take a lump sum payment and took home $4.1 million after state and federal tax withholdings.
Monte Hukill said he plans to use the money to help his two kids pay for college and to pay off his wife’s student loan debt.
“My wife went back to school at 42 to be a high school teacher,” Hukill said. “Education is important in our household. So, once we get that settled, then we will think about what to do next.”
The Extreme Millions scratch-offs rolled out in December with four $10 million prized and 22 $1 million prizes, according to the N.C. Education Lottery. Three $10 million tickets and 13 $1 million tickets have yet to be claimed.
nstewart@hpenews.com — 336-888-3601 — @NatalieLStewart
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