N.C. man finds $20 on the ground, uses it to win $1M lottery prize

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man found a $20 bill on the ground and used it to buy a scratch-off lottery ticket that earned him a $1 million prize.

Banner Elk resident Jerry Hicks told North Carolina Education Lottery officials his road to lottery luck started with a fortuitous discovery.

"I found $20 in the parking lot outside the Speedway," Hicks said. "I used that to buy the ticket."

Hicks bought an Extreme Cash scratch-off ticket from the Speedway on N.C. 105 in Boone.

"They actually didn't have the ticket I was looking for, so I bought that one instead," he recalled.

Hicks said he had already decided on the first thing he will do with his prize money.

"We are going to head straight to Golden Corral and eat everything they've got," he said with a laugh.