17 coworkers dreamed of winning the lottery, then refused to believe they actually won
Since the days of the Lotto Super 7 (the last draw was in 2009), a group of 17 coworkers from Southern Ontario have been playing as a team dreaming that one day they’d win big. And on March 22, that dream finally became a reality.
Group leader and Courtland resident Ladislav Ratkovic recalls checking the winnings early one morning. When he realized that the numbers matched, he woke his wife just to be sure and asked her to double-check.
“She scanned it using the OLG App and we saw $1 million,” he said.
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Ratkovic was thrilled; the problem was his coworkers refused to believe him.
“I spent the whole morning on the phone with everyone convincing them I wasn’t joking,” he said, laughing while he picked up the check on behalf of the group at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.
Ladislav Ratkovic/OLG
In addition to Ratkovic, the other group members include Alex Maclellan of Delhi, Antoni Rembisz of Scotland, Cameron Shunamon of Brantford, Carlos Custodio of Simcoe, George McWilliams of Petersburg, Hamlet Pryce of Brantford, Joao Felix Dos Santos of Delhi, Jose Faria of Simcoe, Jose Lopes of Simcoe, Kasey Kaiswatum of Brantford, Keith Stephens of Brantford, Marek Kaplon of Vanessa, Richard King of Hagersville, Tomasz Rembisz of Brantford, Vincent Napholc of Brantford, and Vitor Faria of Simcoe.
Ratkovic said everyone in the group is very happy and they all have different plans for each of their portions: some will use their winnings to complete home renovations, others will use it for a down payment on a house, and some will travel and save.
“I’m so happy we won with the group,” said Ratkovic.
The winning ticket was purchased at Petro Canada on Simcoe Street in Tillsonburg.
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