Adding lottery ticket to peanuts purchase leaves B.C. woman $70 million richer
Stopping for peanuts turned a woman from B.C.'s Lower Mainland into a multi-millionaire, thanks to a spur-of-the-moment decision to add a lottery ticket to her purchase.
Christine Lauzon's Lotto Max ticket – bought at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Burnaby, along with a pack of peanuts – matched all seven numbers in the Sept. 28 draw, winning her a massive $70 million prize.
"I just thought, 'Why not buy a ticket?'" Lauzon told the B.C. Lottery Corporation. "I have definitely dreamed about it but I never thought it would actually happen. You never think it's going to happen."
Lauzon's win marks the biggest lottery jackpot ever claimed in the province.
After checking her ticket at home, she shared the news with her roommate and then her father – but only after getting an expletive or two out of her system.
"The first thing, for me, was to swear because I couldn't believe it," Lauzon said.
She told the BCLC her plan is to meet her financial advisor, share some of her fortune with family, then spend a little time processing before deciding what to do with the rest.
"I feel nervous and excited all in one," Lauzon said in a BCLC news release. "I can't fully wrap my head around it all right now."
The odds of winning a Lotto Max jackpot, which requires matching all seven numbers without using the bonus, are said to be an infinitesimal one in 33,294,800.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
BREAKING Police cordon off Iran consulate in Paris where man threatens to blow himself up: French media
French police cordoned off the Iranian consulate in Paris on Friday, where a man was threatening to blow himself up, Europe 1 radio and BFM TV.
Some Canadian families will receive up to $620 per child today
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
BREAKING Iran fires at apparent Israeli attack drones near Isfahan air base and nuclear site
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defences at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Ottawa to force banks to call carbon rebate a carbon rebate in direct deposits
Canadian banks that refuse to identify the carbon rebate by name when doing direct deposits are forcing the government to change the law to make them do it, says Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.
Ontario woman loses $15,000 to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a U.S. resident
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.