A Brunswick County man won big in the North Carolina Education Lottery this month after purchasing a ticket while filling up his gas tank.

According to a news release from the North Carolina Education Lottery, John Grant, 59, of Bolivia, stopped at the May Way Company on Sunset Harbor Road for gas and decided to buy a scratch-off ticket.

Using a penny he found on the ground by his truck, he scratched the Fabulous Fortune ticket.

“My heart started beating real fast,” Grant said in the release. “I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.” The ticket was a $100,000 winner.

Grant arrived at lottery headquarters in Raleigh on Tuesday and took home $71,019 after federal and state tax withholdings.

Grant said he'll likely put most of the winnings in savings, but a new truck might also be in his future, according to the release.

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