A North Carolina man accidentally bought 2 identical lottery tickets and came away with $25,000-a-year prizes for each one

• A North Carolina man who filled out two entries for a $25,000-a-year lottery won the jackpot twice.
• Scotty Thomas filled out two entries because he couldn't remember filling one out the first time.

A dump-truck operator from North Carolina accidentally bought two Lucky for Life lottery tickets and won the jackpot on both.

Scotty Thomas from Fayetteville, North Carolina, filled out an online form for the lottery ticket twice because he couldn't remember doing it the first time, a press release from the North Carolina Education Lottery said.

"I was just laying in bed watching a basketball game on TV and I couldn't remember if I filled it out or not," Thomas, 49, said in the release.

"I went ahead and filled it out again and the next morning my son asked why there were two different amounts listed. I realized, 'I think I filled it out twice.'"

Both entries turned out to be winning tickets with a $25,000-a-year award for life attached to each of them, the release said.

"When I realized I won, I had to lay down on the floor because I really just couldn't believe it," Thomas said. "It's just a blessing."

Thomas chose to get his winnings in the form of a lump sum of $780,000 for both tickets, the release said, instead of the $25,000 annual payments. Thomas is planning to use the money to pay off bills and invest in his business. He also wants to put money toward a house for his family. The lump-sum total after taxes came out to just over $550,000, the release said.