"Well, I’ll be damned": Couple who thought they won $2,000 shocked by $2 million lottery win
A couple from New Brunswick is getting ready for some big travel plans after a surprise lottery win.
Retired couple Marlena and Ernest Williams lived in Ontario before moving to the city of Dieppe four years ago to enjoy their retirement and “everything the East Coast has to offer.”
While at Moncton one day, Ernest stopped at a supermarket where he bought a lottery ticket, opting for the Atlantic Lottery’s $2 Million Extreme, a $20 Scratch’N Win ticket.
Marlena was playing the ticket when she realized that they might have won a prize.
“I scratch it, and I’m looking and I see the number two, and I scratch again and I still see ‘two’ and I thought it was like $2,000,” Marlena said. “Then I kept scratching and I asked Ernest three or four times if this was for real, and he goes, ‘Well, I’ll be damned.'”
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Ernest hurried to pull up the Atlantic Lottery mobile app to scan the ticket and the result left the two of them stunned: they had just won the top prize worth $2 million.
According to Atlantic Lottery, the game was launched in October 2021 and there’s only one top prize left.
While claiming their prize, the couple said that the win will allow them to enjoy a more comfortable retirement and help family members.
It will also allow them to do other fun things.
Originally from Jamaica, their win means they’ll be taking more trips back home to see their family whom they haven’t seen since before the beginning of the pandemic. The couple, who loves to travel, will also be crossing off some destinations on their list — they plan to visit British Columbia, Vietnam, and Panama.
For Marlena, the reality of the happy news is still taking a while to sink in.
“We have to really get settled first, really like, is this for real?” Marlena said. “Then, once we see the money in the account maybe it will feel like reality.”
Ernest purchased the winning $2 Million Extreme ticket at Trinity Superstore in Moncton, NB. The retailer will receive a one percent seller’s prize.
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