A North Carolina man who was diagnosed recently with cancer is planning to travel the world after he won a $250,000 lottery prize.
Richard Beare of Charlotte couldn’t believe his luck when he made a stop at a convenience store to get a Powerball ticket two weeks ago.
“I rarely play the lottery,” Beare told NC Education Lottery. “I only stopped because my wife asked me to get a Powerball ticket since the jackpot was so high.”
While at the store, Beare decided to also buy some scratch-off tickets. He purchased four Carolina Black tickets in total.
“The fourth one was the winner,” the retired automotive mechanic said.
“When I saw that I had matching numbers, I asked her, ‘What does it mean if I match the numbers?’ She said it meant I won a prize. I told her, ‘Well, I guess we just won $250,000 then.’ She was in shock and just kept looking back and forth to me and the ticket.”
Beare went to the lottery headquarters in Raleigh to claim his prize on April 1. He took home $176,876, an amount after taxes. The $5 ticket launched in the last month with four top prizes of $250,000. Two top prizes remain.
“This feels great,” Beare said. “It’s such a relief.”
Beare said he would use the money to travel to Italy with his wife.
“I recently got diagnosed with stage four liver cancer,” he said. “I want to travel while I can still enjoy myself. My wife has always wanted to go to Italy, since that’s where her descendants are from. Now I can take her.”
In a similar story last year, an 87-year-old man from New Jersey, who broke his hip while on his way to the store to buy a lottery ticket, ended up winning a share of a $1 million prize after hospital staff took pity on him.
Earl Livingston, 87, was going out to buy a lottery ticket when he fell, only for things to take a turn for the richer.
Posted by Today Show on Friday, October 26, 2018
While in the hospital, Earl Livingston shared his story with staff at Jefferson Stratford Hospital, who asked him whether he wanted to be included in the hospital’s lottery pool.
Here's the winning ticket! Get the full story tonight from Joyce Evans FOX 29. #StratfordMillionairesClub
Posted by Jefferson Health – New Jersey on Wednesday, October 24, 2018
“He told them he was on his way to buy a lottery ticket and he was disappointed that he didn’t get it,” Livingston’s niece, Bobbie Mickle, told NBC10. “So they said, ‘Why don’t you go in with us? We’re also buying a lottery ticket.’”
Livingston then contributed an amount with 141 hospital staff in the pool. They ended up winning $1 million, with each participant taking home about $4,500 after taxes.
“I want to thank everybody,” Livingston told NBC10. “I appreciate very much and God bless you and have a happy, happy long life!”
Congratulations to the newly formed "Stratford Millionaires Club!" 141 employees and one patient from Jefferson Health -…
Posted by Jefferson Health on Thursday, October 25, 2018
Joe Devine, president of Jefferson Health New Jersey, praised his staff for going beyond their duties to help the elderly patient.
“This is a story of good fortune, but also of great people,” he told Today. “When this gentleman expressed his disappointment around not having the chance to get a lottery ticket, our staff stepped in to brighten up his day. The team here goes above and beyond for their patients every day. This time, it happened to net an excellent reward for all!”
Epoch Times reporter Jocelyn Neo contributed to this article.
