Man unwraps mystery gift on Christmas Eve — and wins big North Carolina lottery prize
One North Carolina man’s Christmas Eve this year will be one he’ll never forget — thanks to the large sum of money he went home with.
As part of Edisson Garcia Vargas’ Christmas Eve festivities, his family played a game where they passed around a bowl filled with wrapped gifts, according to a Dec. 28 North Carolina Education Lottery news release. Each person took a turn picking a present from the bowl.
When it was Vargas’ turn, the Raleigh resident chose a present and unwrapped it to find a scratch-off ticket.
After his girlfriend gave him a kiss for good luck, Vargas started scratching the ticket. And he realized he won a huge prize.
“Everybody was just in shock with their mouths open,” Vargas said in the release.
His $5 ticket from a Harris Teeter was worth $200,000, lottery officials said.
“I was so excited when I saw how much I won,” he said in the release. “The whole family was.”
Vargas left the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters on Dec. 28 with $142,501 after taxes. He plans to use his prize money to invest, he told lottery officials.
This story was originally published December 28, 2023 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Man unwraps mystery gift on Christmas Eve — and wins big North Carolina lottery prize."
