Birthday Surprise: North Carolina Teen Wins $250,000 on First-Ever Lottery Game

A North Carolina woman won $250,000 on her first-ever lottery game as she was gifted a scratch-off for her 18th birthday.

Yuridia Gallegos-Echavarrieta said she was at a loss for words when she scratched her Power 5s ticket, which revealed she won $250,000.

Her grandfather purchased the ticket at the Speedway convenience store in Mount Airy for $5. Gallegos-Echavarrieta told the North Carolina Lottery she didn't find out she won until months after her 18th birthday because she didn't scratch off the ticket immediately when she received it.

"I think I was in shock," she told the North Carolina Lottery. "I didn't believe I won.

We had to go back to the gas station to check it." Yuridia Gallegos-Echavarrieta with a $250,000 winning check. The high school senior told her grandfather before anyone else that she had won.

"He was like,' That's awesome!'" Gallegos-Echavarrieta recalled to the lottery. On December 21, she claimed her prize of $178,126 at the North Carolina Lottery headquarters in Raleigh after deducting federal and state taxes.

She told lottery officials she plans to invest her winnings.