"Too stunned to speak": Lucky lottery players split multimillion-dollar prize
After splitting a big lottery prize, a couple of lucky Canadians from the same province are now multimillionaires.
July 3 was a life-changing day for several lottery players who won a Lotto 6/49 jackpot.
The Gold Ball prize was worth $18 million, but no one won the top prize.
Irish Mae Silvestre/Daily Hive
However, several people did win the next biggest prize — the $5 million Lotto 6/49 Classic Draw prize. According to PlayNow, two tickets from Ontario matched the Lotto 6/49 winning numbers 02, 03, 07, 22, 28, and 31.
Here are the winners:
Kerry Vanderploeg
Kerry Vanderploeg of Carrying Place, Ontario (OLG)
According to OLG, Kerry Vanderploeg can now “find her possible” after buying one of two tickets that shared the $5 million jackpot. As a result, Vanderploeg, a resident of the Ontario community of Carrying Place, is now $2.5 million richer.
Her lucky ticket was purchased on OLG.ca.
Kelly and Daniel Veilleux
Kelly and Daniel Veilleux of Wendover, Ontario (OLG)
Grandparents Kelly and Daniel Veilleux of Wendover, Ontario, have been playing the lottery together for 35 years. They even have a favourite set of numbers they’ve been playing for decades: a combination of the entire family’s birthdays.
“It was early in the morning when I checked our ticket on the OLG app. I saw the ‘Big Winner’ message, and I thought we had won $2,500,” said Kelly.
So she got dressed and went to the store to validate their ticket, but quickly realized something wasn’t right.
“When the clerk validated our ticket, he said, ‘I don’t know how much you won, but the lottery terminal is frozen,'” recalled Kelly. “That’s when OLG called and confirmed the prize amount. I felt faint and was left in pure disbelief.”
They had won the other half of the $5 million Lotto 6/49 prize. So, along with her daughter, Kelly went to see Daniel, who was at work, to break the news to him.
“When they came in and showed me, I just couldn’t believe the amount! I was too stunned to speak,” said Daniel.
He said he was frantic when he told his son that he had some good news.
“His response was, ‘Did you win the lottery?’ We had a good laugh,” said Daniel.
While at the OLG Prize Centre, the couple said they’d save their $2.5 million windfall.
“We are overwhelmed and would love for others to experience this feeling,” Daniel stated.
Their winning ticket was purchased at Marché de la Place on Principale Street in Wendover.
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