"I am getting new hearing aids": 83-year-old wins $60 million lottery jackpot (VIDEO)
Vera Page from Vankleek Hill, Ontario, has been playing the lottery for about 40 years. So while she was doing her weekly food shopping, she didn’t miss the chance to buy a ticket.
“When the staff at my retirement home rescheduled our weekly trip, I got on my motorized scooter and went to the store myself,” said the 83-year-old mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. “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.”
She heard on the news that someone in the Prescott and Russell area had won big so she decided to check her ticket against the winning numbers.
“Okay, first number, okay. Second number, okay. Third number? Well, okay that’s a free ticket, that’s good,” she recalled. “Then I go to the fourth number and I said, ‘Oh, there’s something wrong here.'”
When she realized that she had all the winning numbers — 02, 23, 27, 34, 43, 46, 49, and 44 — she immediately called her son.
Page couldn’t believe that she had won the $60 million jackpot in the November 1, 2022, Lotto Max draw.
Watch the video below:
“It was close to 9 pm when I called my son, Trevor, but he didn’t answer his phone,” she said. Undeterred, she called her family until she finally got a hold of her daughter-in-law.
“But she didn’t believe me and told me to go to sleep,” said Page, laughing.
There was no one to share the news with in her retirement home either since friends were either in bed or half asleep. So she spent a sleepless night thinking about her life-changing lottery win.
However, the next day was a different story.
After returning her call, her son raced to her apartment.
“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,” said Page. “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. When I gave my ticket to the clerk, the bells and whistles went off and the clerk yelled that I had won BIG!”
She said that her son was “very excited” and that her anxiety from the night before finally disappeared.
Vera Page at the OLG Prize Centre (OLG)
“I felt very calm for some reason,” she said, adding that she’s been trying to keep the rest of her family calm since they learned about the news. “They are extremely happy for me.”
Trevor said that his mother is “so deserving of this good fortune,” having given so much to her family.
“She helped raise all her siblings. She raised our family while working as a personal support worker,” he said. “And in 1983, when her younger sister fell ill and needed a kidney transplant, my mom found out she was a match and didn’t hesitate to donate her kidney that saved her sister’s life.”
So what does Page intend to do with her windfall?
She plans to donate some to charity and then buy a piece of land along the Ottawa River to build a double-family home for herself and her son’s family.
“I have always wanted to experience an Alaskan cruise and am planning for that trip,” she said. “The winters in eastern Ontario are cold so I would like to spend them in a warmer climate.”
But come summer, she plans to spend time with her family.
Vera Page at the OLG Prize Centre (OLG)
“I want to get a big boat that many people can sleep on and tour the Ottawa River,” she said. “Most importantly, I will share my winnings with my family. I want to take care of their futures.”
But before she starts crossing off her bucket list, she needs to buy something rather urgently.
“I am getting new hearing aids!” she said.
Vera purchased her winning ticket at Foodland on Highway 34 in Vankleek Hill.
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