Ontario Lottery Winner Says It Took Him A Full Day To Convince His Kids He Scored $1M
"It’s something that seems so impossible until it happens to you.”
A 62-year-old father and grandfather from Ottawa won $1 million and discovered his win while he was out shopping with his wife.
Ontario lottery winner Craig Wheeler said that winning felt surreal and he had to convince his family that he had actually won.
"I scanned my ticket using the Ticket Checker and then got my wife’s attention. She thought it was just an advertisement until the cashier told her several times that it was real!”
Wheeler also admitted that it took a "full day" for his children to believe him.
This retiree told OLG, "You can’t really describe this feeling unless you’ve actually won. It’s something that seems so impossible until it happens to you.”
This winning ticket was from the December 17, 2021, Lotto Max draw, which Wheeler had purchased at the Mac's on Stonehaven Drive in the Ottawa neighbourhood Kanata.
The lottery winner plans to pay off some bills, donate to charity and potentially purchase a new vehicle with his winnings.
He's not the first winner with practical plans for his winnings
An OLG winner from Oshawa, Antony Lysyk, also plans to pay off some bills as well as help his children with their college tuition. He won $107,477.30 back in October from a Lotto 6/49 draw.
Another recent Ontario lottery winner, 22-year old Noah Fanor, is paying bills with his $700,000 prize along with his student loan. He also hopes to buy a house with some of the money.
It appears that this is a common way to spend winnings, as Robert Whitton, a lottery winner from an October draw, also plans on using his $203,303.90 prize to pay off bills.