Couple using same lottery numbers for 26 years wins jackpot
Persistence has paid off for a couple in North Carolina. The husband and wife who have been playing the same set of lottery numbers for 26 years won more than $366,000 this week.
Terry Coggeshall claimed the prize Thursday at the headquarters of the North Carolina Education Lottery in Raleigh. He said the lucky numbers had gotten him and his wife close to winning a few times, but they never thought they would take home the Cash 5 jackpot.
"I was in the La-Z-Boy as she was standing there watching," Coggeshall, of Durham, said. "And she started screaming. She goes, 'I won, I won!' And I go, 'What?!'"
The odds of winning were 1 in 962,598. Coggeshall, a delivery coordinator, bought the winning ticket at a grocery store in Chapel Hill.
Coggeshall said the couple started playing the same set of numbers when they lived in Florida. After required federal and state tax withholdings, they are $259,425 richer.
"We never really thought that we'd get all of that," he said. "I can't wait to see my wife's face when she looks at the check."