'Saw lots of zeroes': Vancouver lottery winner plans to use $1M prize to buy home

A Vancouver woman's dream of becoming a homeowner has become a reality after learning she had won a $1-million lottery prize.

Miriam Nacionales scored the guaranteed prize in the July 1 Lotto 6/49 draw, according to a news release from the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

Nacionales told the BCLC that she stopped into Dundas Market in East Vancouver with her son when she remembered to check a ticket she shared with a friend.

"I also found my other ticket I had not checked yet," recalled Nacionales. "The (ticket self-scanner) was a bit higher than my eyes, so I was on my tippy toes and saw lots of zeroes."

Nacionales said she was in shock and her husband was "dumbfounded" when she told him the news.

Besides purchasing a home, Nacionales said she hopes to use some of her winnings to help out her family and travel back to her home country in Europe.

"I am very grateful and thankful," she added.

Nacionales purchased the winning ticket at the London Drugs on East Hastings and Penticton streets in Vancouver.

According to the BCLC, lottery players have won more than $92 million from Lotto 6/49 draws in B.C. so far this year.

The odds of winning the Gold Ball Draw – which comes with either the guaranteed $1 million prize or the escalating Gold Ball jackpot that starts at $10 million – depend on the number of tickets sold nationwide.

The classic jackpot for Lotto 6/49 draws is always $5 million. The odds of winning it are one in 13,983,816.