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Odd day: NC man hits 2 deer with new car, later learns he won $2M in lottery

LELAND, N.C. — It was the worst of times and then the best of times for a North Carolina man.

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Anthony Dowe, of Leland, had hit two deer in his brand-new car early Saturday. Later in the day, he discovered that a Mega Millions ticket he bought Friday was worth $2 million.

“I hit two deer with my brand-new car,” Dowe, who was heading to work, told North Carolina lottery officials. “So, I just got mad, went back home, got into bed and went to sleep. 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 said in a news release. “I’m like, ‘Wow!’ It was just crazy.”

Dowe, who works in shipping and receiving, bought a $3 Quick Pick ticket at the Minuteman Food Mart in Leland.

His Megaplier ticket matched the numbers on all five white balls to beat odds of 1 in 12.6 million, earning him $1,000,000. The prize was doubled to $2,000,000 when the 2X Megaplier was drawn, the Wilmington Star-News reported.

“I went and showed my dad and my mom, and everybody was happy,” Dowe told lottery officials.

Dowe claimed his prize on Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He took the cash option, which means he cleared $1,415,001 after federal and state tax withholdings.

“It just feels great,” Dowe told lottery officials. “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.”

The rest of the cash will go into savings, Dowe said.