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When Roger Hutchens of Mocksville got the phone call from the lottery telling him that he had won $1 million, he thought it was a friend playing a joke.

“To start with, I thought it was my buddy messing with me,” said Hutchens. “I was a little hesitant. It was really pretty awesome once I found out it was the real deal.”

The phone call came Friday afternoon as Hutchens was visiting his wife at work for a lunch date.

“It’s really great knowing it’s for real,” he said. “I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting. It’s gonna help out with a lot of things.”

His entry was chosen from over 680,000 entries in the July 8 Colossal Cash second-chance drawing. Winners of second-chance drawings receive a phone call or email notifying them that they won.

“The drawing was on July 8 and that was one of my daughter’s birthday,” said Hutchens. “She may tell me that it was her luck that I won.”

Hutchens claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He had the choice of taking the $1 million as an annuity of 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum and after required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $424,500.

Hutchens, an IT specialist at a community college, and his wife plan to use the winnings to help pay some bills. “We have some college loans that this’ll help with so the kids don’t have payments when they get married,” he said. “I have a daughter that’s getting married in March, so this is going to help in a lot of ways.”