When Linda McCain realized what her eyes were seeing late at night on Aug. 18, she moved into her kitchen for better lighting to do a double take, North Carolina lottery officials say.

McCain’s $1 Cash 5 ticket that she bought from a Short Stop Mart in Maxton, North Carolina about 100 miles southeast of Charlotte had just turned into a $756,362 jackpot.

“When I realized it, I just started hollering,” McCain told lottery officials, according to a news release. “I was feeling so good I couldn’t even go back to sleep.”

McCain, 54, said her strategy of picking numbers that have significance to her paid off.

“I was pinching everybody to make sure it was real,” McCain said. “My sister told me, ‘You deserve it.’”

After taxes, McCain took home $537,093 from lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Friday, Aug. 26. She told lottery officials she plans to use her winnings to buy a new house.

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