Surely we’ve all dreamed about what we would do if we won the lottery.
A Northern California man, who came forward Tuesday to claim his $242.2 million Powerball jackpot check, says he plans to use a portion of his winnings to set up a charitable foundation “focused on areas of pediatric health, child hunger and education.”
Retiree B. Raymond Buxton says he has been playing the game for two years, but this win came as a complete surprise.
“‘Unbelievable!’ is all I could muster,” Buxton said of the moment he learned he’d hit the jackpot. “I sat in front of the computer for hours in disbelief, frequently checking and rechecking the numbers across multiple sources. Once the initial shock passed, I couldn’t sleep for days.”
He won $425.3 million, the largest jackpot ever won in California and the sixth-largest in the nation, and opted to take a lump-sum check for $242.2 million before taxes.
When he came forward to claim his prize on April Fool’s Day, he wore a shirt featuring the Star Wars character Yoda with the words “Luck of the Jedi I have.”
Who is this lucky-but-shy lottery winner who scooped $450m jackpot? http://t.co/LeKk92rxJD pic.twitter.com/VzMzlbME06
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) April 2, 2014
Buxton told lottery officials he decided to buy a second ticket for the February drawing while getting lunch at a Subway inside the convenience store at Dixon Landing Chevron in Milpitas.
Tuesday was also a pretty good day for the Chevron where Buxton bought the ticket —they received a $1-million bonus for selling it.
Buxton’s lucky numbers were 17, 49, 54, 35, 1 and the Powerball number 34.
At first, Buxton decided to keep his secret on the low-down, but that proved a little unnerving.
“Sitting on a ticket of this value was very scary,” he said. “It’s amazing how a little slip of paper can change your life.”
Image via YouTube