‘I’ll still be the same old me’ says Johnston County man after $10 million win
Wade Harmon of Kenly purchased a single $300,000,000 Supreme Riches scratch-off ticket on his way home from work and won $10 million, the largest scratch-off prize in the state.
Harmon said he played Pick 3 and Pick 4 and tried his luck on a single $30 scratch-off ticket. “I went home and fired up my grill and I said, ‘Well I might as well scratch my ticket,’” recalled Harmon. “I looked down and I said, ‘Woah!’”
Harmon, an iron worker, bought his lucky ticket at the Big Boys on Bagley Road in Kenly.
“I’m thankful, I really am,” said Harmon. “I believe the Lord saved that for me. He had a reason for me to win this ticket. He’s got plans for me.”
Harmon claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He had a choice of taking the $10 million as an annuity of $500,000 a year over 20 years or a lump sum of $6 million. He chose the lump sum and, after federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $4,245,009.
Despite winning the largest amount possible for a lottery scratch-off ticket, Harmon said his big win won’t change him. “I’ll still be the same old me,” he said.
Harmon said he’ll be putting his winnings “to good use.” He plans to, “keep working for a bit more and use the money for retirement in a few years,” he said.
Harmon also plans to take his kids and their families on a cruise when the coronavirus outbreak is over and it is safe again.
$300,000,000 Supreme Riches launched in April 2019 with four $10 million top prizes and six $1 million prizes. One $10 million prize and one $1 million prize remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-offs make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million per year for education. For details on how $13.6 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Johnston County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.
