Crossword-loving grandma who thought she won $5,000 realized her lotto prize was actually a lot larger
A recent lottery winner excitedly told her daughter she was suddenly $5,000 richer. She was wrong.
Donna Tsakoza, a soon-to-be retiree who lives in the British Columbia First Nations community of Prophet River, won big with a scratch ticket. Bigger than she realized.
She bought a Luxury Crossword Scratch & Win ticket from a Petro Canada station, and was in her office when she started to scratch it.
She thought she'd matched 10 words, meaning she'd win $5,000, and let her daughter in on the news.
Then she realized there was one more match.
"I looked it over three times because I was hoping it wasn't a mistake," she said through a B.C. Lottery Corporation news release.
Matching 11 words entitles her to 20 times the prize she thought she'd won. Finding herself suddenly $100,000 richer, Tsakoza said she plans to buy a new vehicle as she heads into retirement.
She said she'll also give some of the prize to her granddaughter.
Patrick Lamour is seen in a photo from BCLC.
Another recent B.C. winner claimed an even larger prize. In fact, Patrick Lamour's Keno ticket prize is the largest ever awarded at a retail location in the province.
Lamour said he thought something was wrong with the machine that checks the tickets when it told him he'd won $400,052.50.
The Merritt resident who bought his winning ticket at a Shell station said he often plays with numbers taken from his children's birthdays, and has been buying Keno tickets about once a month over the last year.
He said he'll be taking his kids out to celebrate, and will gift them both part of his prize.
Lamour told BCLC he's not yet sure what he'll do with the rest.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
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 which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.