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Mega Millions Jackpot Nearly 1 Billion Dollars

Source: Scott Olson / Getty

A North Carolina man hit two deer with his new car, but his misfortune quickly changed in a matter of hours.

Anthony Dowe of Leland, N.C. says he got into the accident on his way to work last Friday and called it a day by going home and drifting off to sleep. The next morning he woke up and discovered he was a millionaire.

Dowe matched five numbers and multiplier in last Friday’s Mega Millions $1 billion drawing, winning a $2 million prize from the North Carolina Education Lottery.

“Then I woke up and checked my tickets. I checked the fourth ticket and I saw the ‘4′ and then the next number and the next number and the next number,” Dowe told the Associated Press. “I’m like, ‘Wow!’ It was just crazy.”

The odds of Dowe winnings were estimated at 1 in 12.6 million, according to official rules. As for the odds of matching all six numbers, a whooping 1 in 302.6 million.

A single ticket sold in the Michigan won the big $1 billion jackpot Friday night. The prize had been climbing for 37 weeks with no winners through semi-weekly drawings. The cash payout for the unidentified person will be an estimated $650 million after taxes.

Dowe claimed his prize at the lottery headquarters in Raleigh and took home about $1.4 million after taxes.

“It just feels great,” he said. “I’m just gonna fix things on my mother and father’s house and get my car fixed, pay it off, and pay my niece’s car off.”

North Carolina man hits two deer and a jackpot in 24 hours  was originally published on wbt.com