$5.8M B.C. lotto winner now planning trip with grandkids says she almost didn't buy the ticket
One of the British Columbia's newest multimillionaires hopes to take her grandchildren on vacation after winning a major prize in a draw she almost didn't take part in.
Juanita Parnell, of Prince Rupert, won $5,790,419.90 in a recent Lotto 6/49 draw after matching all six numbers. The jackpot was split between Parnell and another ticketholder, who played the lottery in Ontario.
It was a win that almost didn't happen, she told the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
"I was in a rush. I had actually forgotten and was hurrying to buy (before the deadline for the draw), and was worried I would miss the numbers," she said in a statement issued by BCLC about two weeks later.
But she made it to the cash register in time, and played the same set of numbers she's been playing for two decades – numbers she says don't actually have any significance to her.
Her picks, 7, 18, 19, 38, 42 and 46, were chosen randomly when she first started playing the lottery, and she stuck with them.
"There's no rhyme or reason why… I think I've missed playing them only three times," Parnell said.
She found out she won, but tried to keep it quiet at first. It wasn't easy.
"I'm pretty sure it was 3:30 in the morning and I was still awake," she said of how she reacted to learning she'd won the Oct. 6 draw.
"My daughter had called me earlier and said that someone in Prince Rupert had won the jackpot. She had found out on Facebook. Apparently everyone in Prince Rupert had found out."
Indeed, while no names were revealed, BCLC announced right after the draw that the winning tickets were sold in Prince Rupert and Ottawa.
Parnell wasn't revealed publicly as the B.C. winner until Wednesday, and though she's had some time to think, she's still not sure what she'll do with the bulk of the money.
She does have one plan already: taking her grandchildren to Disney World.
"We've never been able to go on a vacation together all at once," she said, joking that she'd be sure to go outside of storm season, meaning her family won't be hopping on a plane in the immediate future.
Parnell is one of several B.C. lottery winners this year, but the chances of winning any game are extremely low.
BCLC says the odds of matching all six numbers in a Lotto 6/49 draw, as she did, are one in 13,983,816.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.