$500K tip from customer changes life of Mississauga, Ontario woman

Talk about a life-changing tip from a customer.

Mississauga’s Elizabeth Kielty, who works in the transportation service industry, is $500,000 richer thanks to a Lotto Max free play ticket she received, to her surprise, after giving someone a ride.

Kielty turned that ticket into a big Maxmillions winner in the Aug. 13, 2024 Lotto Max draw, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) officials said in a news release on Friday.

OLG officials said while on the job one day, the Mississauga woman was gifted the free play ticket “as a tip for great service.”

But she didn’t redeem it right away.

“I set the ticket aside and completely forgot about it,” Kielty recounted recently while at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto to claim her windfall. “Several weeks later, I remembered the ticket and took it to the store to redeem my free play with another Lotto Max ticket.”

Several days after the lottery draw last August, Kielty went back to the store to check her tickets.

“When I had my ticket that came from the tip validated, the lottery terminal froze and the clerk told me my ticket was a big winner. I remained calm and collected, but I was in disbelief. A representative from OLG called the store and I said, ‘Are you sure I won? I think you made a mistake’.”

Kielty added she remained skeptical for a while.

“I spent the next 24 hours trying to understand how I’d won this prize,” she continued. “I was convinced there had been an error somewhere. I only really believed it around 2 a.m. when I found the information about the winning ticket on OLG’s website.

“Clearly, I’m an evidence-based person,” she said, laughing.

The big winner told OLG officials she plans to upgrade her vehicle and invest the remainder of her winnings in a safe place as she determines her next steps.

“I’m happy to receive this prize and grateful for the positive impact it’ll have on my life,” said Kielty, who’s played the lottery with OLG for decades, both independently and as part of various groups.

“I never expected something like this to happen to me. It’s very surprising, but I’ll take it.”

The winning ticket was purchased at Petro-Canada, on Burnhamthorpe Road in Mississauga.

If Kielty’s big lotto win seems to be something right out of a Hollywood film, it is — although not exactly the same script.

In the 1994 romantic comedy It Could Happen to You, a character played by Nicolas Cage finds himself short on money after finishing a meal in a diner. Unable to provide a cash tip, he instead offers to share his not-yet-played lottery ticket with his server, played by Bridget Fonda.

The plot, inspired by a real-life story, continues with the ticket turning out to be a $4 million winner.

(Cover photo: OLG)