Canadian woman wins lotto twice
Posted: 10/6/2006 11:00:23 AM
Beating 'astounding' odds, Toronto senior held two of three winning tickets in $24M jackpot
With luck like hers, Mary Wollens should buy a lottery ticket — or two.
In what's being described as an unprecedented win in Lotto 6/49 history, 86-year-old Wollens held two of three winning tickets in the Sept. 30 draw, scoring her a windfall of $16 million.
The Etobicoke woman credited a prophetic dream for the windfall, saying she saw the winning numbers in her sleep.
"I was lying in bed and I had a dream about numbers so I wrote them down when I woke up," she told the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.
"I should pay more attention to my dreams I guess," she said.
Wollens felt so confident that, the next day, she bought a second ticket playing the same numbers at the same Royal York Smoke store in Etobicoke.
"We don't think this has ever happened in recent history with such a large jackpot," said OLGC spokesman Teresa Roncon.
"The odds of that are astounding."
Wollens has been playing similar numbers since Lotto 6/49 began in 1982, typically playing between $5 and $10 per draw.
"I won $100 on the very first ticket I ever bought. I thought that it was such a good omen I even named my new tomato hybrid plants 6/49," she said while collecting her prize at the OLG Prize Centre.
The winning tickets this time were two $20 tickets.
Wollens made two separate trips to the prize office: when she told staff she had a second winning ticket at home, she was told to go home and bring back the other $8 million ducat. She deposited one cheque at the bank, went to the prize office, then made a second deposit shortly after.
"I bought my ticket on Thursday, felt really good about the numbers so I played them again on Friday ... guess it paid off," she said grinning.
The other winning ticket was sold in B.C.
Wollens has one son. She plans to splurge on herself, beginning with a haircut and a new wardrobe.
Source: Toronto Sun
