Ontario lottery winner to buy burial plots so "family can always visit"

Although most lottery winners choose to treat themselves to a vacation, one Ontario winner is opting for a more practical purchase.

Newmarket resident and retiree Luc-Hao Truong has been playing the lottery for over 10 years and she says that Lotto 6/49 has always been her favourite game. And the numbers she chooses are especially close to her heart.

“The numbers I play represent significant family dates,” she said.

Although Truong said that she took a break from playing the familiar numbers, they would eventually turn out to be her lucky numbers.

“I stopped playing these numbers for a while — then started playing them again and I won this prize!” she said.

The mother and grandmother was shocked to discover that during the July 2 Lotto 6/49 draw, she had won the second prize and would be going home with a total of $111,221.50.

Luc-Hao Truong/OLG

“My daughters were with me, and they were so happy for me,” she said. “It was unbelievable.”

When Truong received her cheque at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto, the first thing she did was hug her family.

While others choose to treat themselves to a vacation, Truong is thinking about the future and would like to opt for a practical purchase: she wants to use her winnings to buy burial plots for herself and her husband so that her family can always visit.

She’ll also be using the money to pay some bills but that doesn’t mean she won’t be enjoying her winnings: Truong said she’ll be using some of it to buy a brand new car.

“It feels great!” she said, smiling.