Vancouver convenience store clerk Sunil Arora has cashed a lot of winning lottery tickets, but the one he checked on Saturday was like nothing he'd seen before.
Arora says a long-time customer came into his Mac's store just past noon and asked him to check a ticket. When he obliged, the machine froze.
"Whenever it's a big amount, the machine freezes," he said.
And this was certainly a big amount. The customer had won the $50-million Lotto Max jackpot.
The pair phoned a B.C. Lottery Corporation hotline to unlock the machine and confirm the winner's identity.
"I was so happy, so joyous," Arora said. "I was telling every customer today that we have sold the winning ticket."
The BCLC has not released the winner's name, but Arora says he is a Caucasian man who is about 60 years old.
The seller of the ticket gets $2,000 under BCLC rules. Arora says he doesn't know whether he will also get a share of the winnings, but just holding the lucky ticket was an experience he will always remember.
"I can't forget this day in my life, it's a very, very great day," he said.
