#powerball Daughter's birthday celebration turns into $1 million Powerball win for Mecklenburg county man

March 22nd, 2016

A birthday trip to the store to get his daughter's first lottery ticket turned into a $1 million Powerball win for Toolsie Ratiram of Cornelius.

To celebrate her birthday, Ratiram and his daughter went to the Food Lion on North Main Street and each bought a $2 Quick Pick ticket for the Powerball drawing on Feb. 24.

Ratiram didn't check his ticket until Tuesday when he went back to the Food Lion to buy a bag of brown sugar. When the clerk told him he won $1 million dollars, he couldn't believe it.

"I'm not that lucky," Ratiram told the clerk, "Don't play with me."

When the clerk assured him it wasn't a joke he replied, "I guess now I can get the really expensive brown sugar."

On his way home Ratiram picked up a dozen roses to tell his wife.

"At first she didn't believe me and thought something was wrong," Ratiram said. "Once she realized I was serious, her jaw just dropped."

After telling his wife, they went to their daughter's work to share the news that her birthday outing turned into a lucky one.

"I feel like a million bucks," Ratiram said as he claimed his prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh, NC. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he received $692,500. He plans to use the money to go on a family vacation and help his daughter become a doctor.

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