A North Carolina Man Thought It Was His Lucky Day When He Found $20 on the Ground. Then He Used It to Buy a Lottery Ticket

A $20 bill discovered on the ground has drastically changed life for the North Carolina man who picked it up and bought a winning lottery ticket.

Jerry Hicks grabbed the $20 he noticed lying on the ground in a parking lot Tuesday evening and used it to buy an Extreme Cash scratch-off North Carolina WYFF reported.

"I found $20 in the parking lot outside the Speedway. I used that to buy the ticket. They actually didn't have the ticket I was looking for so I bought that one instead," Hicks told officials.

Hicks had the choice to claim the prize as a $50,000 annuity for 20 years or as a single distribution of $600,000. Opting for the lump sum, Hicks became $429,007 richer after state and federal tax withholdings were deducted.

"We are going to head straight to Golden Corral and eat everything they've got," he cheerfully told officials.

Hicks, who has worked as a master carpenter for 56 years, plans to use his winnings to retire and help his children.