"This feels like a miracle": Canadian woman overwhelmed by multimillion-dollar lottery win
A lottery player from Ontario is still reeling from the realization that she’s now a multimillionaire.
Woodbridge resident Teresa Francavilla said that she used to work in finance but is now retired. She’s also been a regular lottery player for years.
“I make sure I never miss a Lotto 6/49 and Lotto Max draw,” she said.
The numbers she chooses are also important to her. “I play regular numbers which are significant family dates,” said Francavilla.
One day, she decided to check her ticket using her phone.
“I checked the ticket on the OLG App and thought something was wrong,” she recalled. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing so she restarted her phone and checked her ticket again.
“That’s when I realized I was a big winner,” she said. “I was shocked!”
Francavilla learned that she had been playing her lucky numbers all along and had won the Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot in the October 1 draw — her total prize was a staggering $5 million. On top of that, her Lotto 6/49 selections won her $10, bringing her total winnings to $5,000,010.
Teresa Francavilla/OLG
Francavilla recalls feeling overwhelmed with emotion and called her children to share the happy news. But that doesn’t mean everyone immediately believed her.
“My son came over and I had to scan the ticket again for him to believe me,” she said while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to pick up her winnings. “My children are so happy for me.”
For the new multimillionaire, it seems the joy of being a winner is the ability to share it with her loved ones — Francavilla said she’ll be sharing her winnings with her children and grandchildren.
“I am going to take some time to process this win,” she said. “I plan to treat myself to a new car and consider a vacation.”
She added, “This feels like a miracle.”
Francavilla’s winning ticket was purchased at Shopper’s Drug Mart on Rutherford Road in Woodbridge.