By Kate Northrop

Second-chances and luck are all-too familiar to one of North Carolina's most recent lottery winners, a cancer survivor who hails from Scotland Neck. 

For Eric Alexander, his most recent victory comes as a $100,000 lottery prize win from scratch-off tickets entered in second-chance drawings.

Alexander beat Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that forms in soft tissue such as skeletal muscle tissue or hollow organs like the bladder.

On June 3, he beat the 1 in 10 million odds to win the top prize of the 2020 Multiply the Cash second-chance drawing by entering his 10X The Cash scratch-off lottery tickets. The drawing was the second of four total second-chance drawings for that game.

"I'm a cancer survivor, so I definitely believe in second chances," the landscaper said.

Alexander originally did not have access to WiFi around June 3. When he was able to check his email a few days after the drawing, he saw he had received a congratulatory email from the lottery. He then called the lottery office to confirm he had indeed won the grand prize.

The first person he notified of his good fortune was his girlfriend, who he "couldn't wait" to call. "She started screaming, she was so excited," he said.

The lucky winner claimed his prize at the N.C. lottery's headquarters in Raleigh on Wednesday, taking home a total of $70,750 after federal and state taxes.

Alexander says he's given much thought to using his newfound prize winnings to helping others as well as setting his family up for the future.

"I have a three-month-old — she's about to be four months — and of course me and my girlfriend," he said. "So [we're] just trying to make sure we're taken care of."

According to the North Carolina Lottery, the next second-chance drawing for the Multiply the Cash games is scheduled for September 9. Players can enter or scan a ticket on the official North Carolina lottery's website or using the N.C. Official Lottery Mobile App. The deadline to enter the next drawing is August 31.