ICYMI: Charlotte Man With Cancer Plans Trip After Lottery Win

CHARLOTTE, NC — A quick trip to an area QuikTrip led to a $250,000 lottery win recently for one Charlotte man. The win couldn’t have come at a better time, says the retired automotive mechanic. Richard Beare, who recently learned he has cancer, says he intends to spend the money by taking his wife on an international trip.

“I rarely play the lottery,” Beare told the North Carolina Education Lottery. “I only stopped because my wife asked me to get a Powerball ticket since the jackpot was so high.”

While Beare was purchasing the Powerball ticket at the QuikTrip located on North Tryon Street in Charlotte, he also bought four Carolina Black scratch-off tickets.

“The fourth one was the winner,” Beare said. “When I saw that I had matching numbers, I asked her, ‘What does it mean if I match the numbers?’ She said it meant I won a prize. I told her, ‘Well, I guess we just won $250,000 then.’ She was in shock and just kept looking back and forth to me and the ticket.”

Beare claimed the prize Monday at the NCEL headquarters in Raleigh, and tool home $176,876 after paying state and federal taxes, lottery officials said.

“This feels great,” Beare said when he got the check. “It’s such a relief.

“I recently got diagnosed with stage four liver cancer,” Beare said. “I want to travel while I can still enjoy myself. My wife has always wanted to go to Italy, since that’s where her descendants are from. Now I can take her. ”