PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Gary Thompson was sitting in the barber shop Monday afternoon when he asked for Local 10 News to be put on the television.
The barber looked at him for a second – so did everyone else in the shop – but when the 21-year-old explained he was in the running to win a new Mercedes C300 in the Local10.com Click, Win and Drive Giveaway, they changed the channel.
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And like that, the entire shop watched as sports reporter Clay Ferraro announced that Thompson won a new car.
"I jumped out of my chair," Thompson, who lives in Hollywood, said.
Once Thompson caught his breath – and answered a congratulations call from his mother – he paid for his haircut, picked up his girlfriend, Diana Huertas, and they headed to the Local 10 News station.
"My hands are shaking," Thompson, who studies health science at Broward College, said when he saw the black car for the first time.
He then sat in the driver’s seat and Huertas took the passenger seat.
They couple, who met in Spanish class at Hollywood Hills High School and recently celebrated their anniversary, smiled at each other as they looked over the car’s features.
"This is unreal," Thompson said.