"Still unbelievable": Two new Lotto Max winners shocked over big wins
Two recent Lotto Max Maxmillions winners in Edmonton say it was hard to comprehend they had just netted $1,000,000 each.
Jean Janson discovered she was about to be $1 million wealthier thanks to the October 4 Lotto Max Maxmillions draw.
“I was shocked!” Janson recalled to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC) after checking her numbers at the self-checker of a local store.
“When I saw I won, I had to look up the numbers online to be sure.”
She still couldn’t really believe what she was seeing, though, and checked her ticket five
more times on the Lotto Spot app and another two times on the self-checker throughout the rest of the week before the reality of her win started to sink in.
WCLC
“I was shocked — I’ve never won,” she said, explaining why she wanted to check and re-
check her ticket. “I just couldn’t believe it, I’ve never won nothing big before!”
Janson picked up her winning ticket from Mundare Esso at 5321 Sawchuck Street in
Mundare on October 1. She matched all seven numbers — 13, 14, 21, 38, 44, 45, and 50 — to
take home one of the draw’s Maxmillions prizes.
Janson said the reality of her win was only just starting to sink in when she started her prize
claim process in late October. “It’s getting there,” she said.
As for what she has planned for her windfall, a couple of things come to mind.
“I want to pay off my house and share some with my family,” she said. “I’ll be debt free, and it’ll be like ‘oh, I can relax now.’”
WCLC
Another Edmonton local, Ivan Derksen, became a millionaire after bringing home one of the Maxmillions prizes drawn from the October 14 Lotto Max draw.
Derksen purchased his ticket from Harvest Hills Shell at 5112 Ellerslie Road in Edmonton on October 9. His ticket matched winning Maxmillions numbers 2, 3, 10, 16, 24, 38, and 46.
A regular player, Derksen says he buys his tickets for the week on Sundays, and then
checks the last week’s tickets the following Sunday.
The Sunday after the draw, like clockwork, Derksen returned to Harvest Hills Shell. When he scanned his ticket using the self-checker, he was floored.
“We thought it was $100,000 – we weren’t wearing our glasses,” Derksen told the WCLC. “Once we counted up all the zeroes, we couldn’t believe it. It’s still unbelievable!”
The happy winner has a few plans for his windfall.
“It’s going to pay off debt,” he explained. “We’re going to keep living our regular lives, but we can pay off our mortgage and help out our family.”
“It still feels surreal, very surreal” he added. “We’re very excited.”