North Carolina Woman Scores 'Life-Changing' Lottery Win: 'Didn't Seem Real'

A lucky lottery player in North Carolina can't believe she won a massive, "life-changing" prize from a scratch off ticket that will help in her house-hunting process.

Chasta Buff , of Vale, recently picked up a $5 Mega Bucks ticket from the Vale Mart & Hardware on North N.C. 18, but when she scratched off the ticket in her truck to reveal the $200,000 top prize, she had to double check what she was seeing was actually real, according to a release from the NC Education Lottery . Buff told lottery officials she went back into the store after seeing the prize amount, where workers scanned the ticket and confirmed that she was a winner.

"It just didn't seem real," she said, adding that she still struggles to believe that she actually won. "It still doesn't."

Buff claimed her winnings at lottery headquarters on Tuesday (September 24), taking home a grand total of $143,001 after all required state and federal tax withholdings. According to lottery officials, the Lincoln County woman already knows how to use her prize, with the new winner saying, "We can finally look at buying a house now."

"For us, this is life-changing," she said. " We really needed this ."

According to the lottery website, the Mega Bucks ticket launched in August with nine top prizes of $200,000. Following Buff's win, seven prizes remain to be claimed.