Helping a neighbor with car trouble leads man to $100,000 lottery prize

May 25 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man said aiding a neighbor turned out to be a profitable endeavor when that led to his winning a $100,000 lottery jackpot.

Ronald McCorrister, of Sylva, told North Carolina Education Lottery officials that he was helping a neighbor work on his car when they needed to visit a gas station.

"We had to go get gas," McCorrister recalled. "He took me to a gas station that I don't usually go to. I went in and bought a couple of tickets."

One of the tickets McCorrister selected from the Hot Spot gas station in Sylva was a $30 Millionaire Maker game.

"I looked down and saw $100,000," he said. "I just kept looking to make sure I was really seeing what I was looking at. I showed my buddy and he gave me like 15 high-fives on that drive home."

McCorrister said he plans to put some of the money toward trading in his vehicle for a Subaru WRX, "and I don't know what else I'm gonna do with the rest of it."

The winner said he still was in disbelief when collecting his prize from lottery headquarters.

"I'm feeling shocked," he said. "It's just crazy. My wife and I are definitely going somewhere really nice to eat."