DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Timothy Seratt has lived paycheck to paycheck his whole life. Born and raised in Dyersburg, the 32-year-old father of two has never flown on a plane or been north of Kentucky.
But now, after winning the lottery, he’s a millionaire.
Seratt won $2 million playing a Mega Millionaire Jumbo Bucks scratch-off this week, taking home $1.3 million after taxes.
"It's still crazy," he told WREG. "Well, I mean I've never owned a house. So, I mean that's the first thing."
He said he's also going to pay off his mom's house, and take his kids to Disney World, "because that would just freak them plum out."
And after that?
"So, I'd like to invest and keep going and not just blow of all it, blow through it."
He bought the winning ticket at Tiger Market Number Two on Saint John Avenue, where the store's owner is proud of the win. He's also proud of all the other winning tickets he's sold.
"People thinking this store is lucky," owner Sonny Patel said.
Seratt paid $25 for the ticket on Tuesday and scratched it in his car.
"A girl walked up to the window that I know who stopped to tell me, 'What are you doing?' And I looked, and I looked at her and I said, 'I just won $2 million,' and she said, 'You're full of sh**' and I said, 'No I ain't.'"
He couldn’t believe it, particularly after the life he’s had. He spent seven years in prison for burglary, got out in 2013 and says he turned his life around before his kids were born.
"Everybody has rough patches in their life," Seratt said. "I've worked the entire time that I've been out."
Seratt’s first official purchase with the winnings was a 1987 Chevrolet truck.
He’d also like to fly to Los Angeles and watch the Dodgers play. They're his favorite team.
But he says he's not going to stop working, or change who he is.
"I might have a lot of money but I'm still a redneck," he said. "I've always been a redneck. That ain't never going to change."
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