"Scared" by unexpected meeting, coworkers learn they won the lottery

A group of coworkers expecting some bad news were stunned to learn that they had in fact won the lottery.

The group, which comprises 26 members from Ontario, often opt to play the lottery together. One day, Ernesto Diaz Herryman, a Hamilton resident, decided to use his phone to check the results of their ticket. And he couldn’t believe the amount he saw.

“I checked our ticket using the OLG App and I didn’t believe all the zeroes,” recalled Diaz Herryman. So he immediately called the group for a meeting.

“Everyone was scared. They were wondering why I called them,” he recalled. “When I shared the big news, they were so excited and told their families right away.”

Ernesto Diaz Herryman and Hiran Patel/OLG

They had won a Maxmillions prize worth $1 million in the May 31 Lotto Max draw. Split between 26, each one gets to take home $38,461.53.

While at the OLG Prize Centre to pick up their cheque, they said that they plan to celebrate their win as a group.

“This is so unusual and so rare,” said Hiran Patel, a Brampton resident. “I am so excited we beat the odds of winning!”

In addition to Diaz Herryman and Patel, the other 24 members include:

Christopher Cote of Mississauga

David Fox of Ancaster

Deepakkumar Prajapati of Mississauga

Fitzwilliam Ramsook of Milton

Gary Randall of Oakville

Gary St. Onge of Oakville

Gregory Hunter of Mississauga

Gregory May of Hamilton

Hanif Remani of Hamilton

Jacob Sherritt of Brantford

James Madley of Ancaster

John Happy of Oakville

John Taylor of Coldwater

John-Paul McGrath of Hamilton

Kevin Soy of North York

Matthew Konstantinou of Mount Hope

Nikeshkumar Babaria of Mississauga

Richard Groulx of Burlington

Sana Rouhani of Brechin

Selwyn Ramjohn of Mississauga

Shayne Coutto of Hamilton

Stephen Yonev of Stoney Creek

Svyatoslav Shchupak of Binbrook

Timothy Taylor of Hamilton

The winning ticket was purchased at Husky on King Street in Stoney Creek.