Canada couple collects $18.5M lottery win
Posted: 11/12/2007 11:45:00 PM
Lightning strikes twice as 6/49 win follows $13,000 slot machine windfall
A Caledon, Ontario, couple have won $18.5 million in the latest Lotto 6/49 draw, right after collecting a $13,000 slot machine jackpot.
Anthony and Antonietta Marrocco were on hand at the lottery offices in downtown Toronto this afternoon, beaming from ear to ear as they accepted the cheque.
The couple, who have been playing the lottery steadily for eight years, could hardly believe their good fortune. Antonietta had won $13,000 on the slot machines Saturday at Casino Rama in Orillia. She had even used $50 of her winnings to buy lottery tickets.
But it wasn't those tickets that had the magic numbers. Her winning ticket was purchased Friday night at a drug store in Bolton when she'd gone in to buy some birthday cards for her new daughter-in-law and some other relatives and friends.
She couldn't believe it when last night she realized she had a ticket for $18.5 million. She immediately woke her husband who was sleeping on the couch and started screaming that they had won the lottery.
One of her daughters was also there, shouting out the winning numbers. Said Anthony: "I thought they were pulling my leg."
The Caledon couple, who live on a farm, own a construction company. Anthony, 61, and Antonietta, 56, have four children and four grandchildren and plan to pay off everyone's debts with their winnings. The couple, celebrating their 25th anniversary on Dec. 11, also plan to pass on their company to their children to manage.
They have no other plans as of yet other than to take it easy. Fearful of flying, they don't plan to take any big dream vacations.
Tonight they planned to head home for a nice quiet family dinner to celebrate their good fortune.
"We just couldn't believe it," said Anthony. "You daydream about winning. But you never believe it's going to happen to you."
Source: Toronto Star
