Ontario woman doesn't let anything get in the way of her weekly lottery purchase
By Kate Northrop
VANKLEEK HILL, Canada — An 83-year-old woman was not about to lose out on an opportunity to participate in the Lotto Max draw on Nov. 1 for $60 million (US$44.8 million) — which she ended up winning.
Vera Page, of Vankleek Hill, would not have bought her usual lottery tickets had she abided by the retirement home's rescheduled trip to the grocery store and subsequently would not have won the $60 million Lotto Max jackpot drawn on Nov. 1.
Thankfully, she was not about to let a multi-million-dollar opportunity slip by, so she found her own means of transportation.
"When the staff at my retirement home rescheduled our weekly trip, I got on my motorized scooter and went to the store myself," Page explained. "As I was checking out, I remembered to buy my Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 tickets, both with Encore. When I got home, I tucked the tickets under my computer until the draw."
After the drawing took place, there was word that a jackpot-winning ticket had been sold in the Prescott and Russell area. As much as she didn't believe the win herself, her family and friends were near-impossible to convince.
The winning numbers for the Lotto Max draw on Tues., Nov. 1 were 2, 23, 27, 34, 43, 46, and 49, with Bonus 44. The odds of matching the seven regular numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 33,294,800.
"It was close to 9:00 pm when I called my son, Trevor, but he didn't answer his phone," the winner recalled. "Then I called my daughter-in-law, and she didn't answer either. I finally got a hold of my other daughter-in-law, but she didn't believe me and told me to go to sleep."
The first person to respond to her calls was Trevor, who rushed to her apartment to help her validate the ticket at the retailer she bought it from, the Foodland grocery store on Highway 34 in Vankleek Hill.
"I told him that we have to go to Foodland where I bought the ticket to validate it and make sure I wasn't seeing things," Page said. "We were in such a rush that I put on a pair of pants over my nightgown, threw on a jacket and went to the store half-dressed."
Sure enough, the "bells and whistles" that sounded after the clerk scanned the ticket had confirmed that she was in possession of a rather valuable lottery ticket.
Page, who raised her family while working as a personal support worker, said she would like to share some of the money with her loved ones. When her younger sister was in need of a kidney donor in 1983, Page discovered that she was a match and immediately donated a kidney to save her life.
She'd also like to splurge on an Alaskan cruise, a vacation in a warmer place, and "a big boat that many people can sleep on and tour the Ottawa River."
Lotto Max drawings take place every Tuesday and Friday at 10:30 pm EST.
Go by your intuition.
She is too cute. Glad she won!! Congratulations!
My granny used to play when PB was $1 and would win her $1 back about 50% of the time.
Awesome story, congrats to Vera, enjoy your win.
She can finally buy that Ferrari now!
Good story, I'm glad she won. =0p
*Trevor did not pick up the phone when she called, but was the first one to rush to her apartment to validate her winning ticket.
*Way to go Trevor...
Congratulations Ms Vera keep an eye or two on Trevor
https://youtu.be/AMczwp9tfPc
If she is familiar with terms like "validating" a ticket, she might be a lp member. Most players would not use that term. She is a savvy player.
This is one of my all time favorite lottery stories.
WOW...two Canadians in a row winning big.
Part of both stories that concerns me and someone else commented too that the clerks @ both stores had to check the tickets.
Perhaps thought wrong that the kiosk in the hallway Caesars Windsor had a scanner to check tickets yourself. Can't find the picture me yours truly standing there to clear this up!
Congrats Vera.
Too bad their pictures are plastered everywhere.
Here it is not an anonymous state, and as far as pictures being posted it stopped end of July 2022. I'm banned from FB until 22 DEC 22, but after out of FB will send my question to the Kentucky Lottery if not found in their rules and regulations which I'll do now.
Congratulations again Vera!
Do Canadian lottery winners have to right to remain anonymous? Australian lottery winners have the right and the vast majority do so.