The B.C. winners of the Aug. 25 Lotto Max jackpot say they recently returned home from a European vacation to realize they had been unwitting millionaires for more than a week.
Burnaby residents Lesley and Mike Vickars only discovered they won half of last month’s $50 million prize haul on Monday after returning from Scotland.
“If we’d known, maybe we’d have stayed longer,” Mike joked.
“It’s overwhelming. A very big number,” Lesley said. “But it’ll be fun.”
The couple, who have been playing the same numbers for 20 years, purchased their ticket at the Save On Foods in Metrotown Mall.
They say they’re not sure yet what to do with the money, but say family will come first.
“We have a very large family. Mark has eight siblings and we have lots of cousins,” Lesley said. “We’ll spread it around.”
The other winning ticket was sold in Orillia, Ont. and quickly claimed by local couple Susanna and Ron Higgs.
The latest prize marks one of the biggest seen in B.C. in recent years, following a $50 million jackpot won in Vancouver in 2010 and hauls of $35 and $30 million won in Campbell River and Abbotsford in 2011 and 2012.
The BCLC says the odds of winning a jackpot are one in 28,633,528, and the most commonly drawn number in Lotto Max jackpots is 34.
With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Nafeesa Karim
