Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A North Carolina woman said a text message and a good deed for a coworker led her to winning a $1 million lottery jackpot.
Sue Manchester told North Carolina Education Lottery officials she was on her lunch break last week when she received the text message that would end up changing her life.
"My coworker texted during my lunch break on Friday to ask me to pick up a Red Bull," Manchester said.
She said she went to her usual gas station, but it was "too busy" so she went to the Eagles station in Chapel Hill, where she bought the Red Bull and a Colossal Cash scratch-off ticket.
"I grabbed the Red Bull and then noticed I had a $20 and a $10 bill," Manchester said. "I decided to get one of the tickets since my coworker has been winning on it recently."
Manchester said she was back in her office when she scratched off the ticket and revealed the symbol indicating she was a $1 million winner.
"I saw the symbol and was like, 'No. This doesn't happen.'" Manchester said. "I showed the same coworker and he said, 'Sue you just won $1 million.' I still didn't believe it. It's very serendipitous. Especially since I rarely get scratch-off tickets."
Manchester chose to receive her winnings as a $600,000 lump sum, which came out to $423,010 after required state and federal tax withholdings.