Man wins $65 million in Canada, but telling his family didn’t go as planned

An Ontario man won a massive $65 million lottery jackpot recently, but breaking the news to his family didn’t exactly go as he had hoped.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced in a news release that Newmarket resident Mark Hanley won the top prize in the March 28 Lotto Max draw.

He discovered the big win one morning when, while eating breakfast, he decided to check his ticket.

Hanley likes to check the numbers one by one and after noticing that he matched three of the numbers, he started paying closer attention.

Soon he realized he matched all seven numbers, but initially didn’t understand what that meant.

“I’ve been playing the lottery for 30 years, and when I counted all seven numbers, I was disappointed that I didn’t match the bonus number,” he said.

“Then I realized there are only seven numbers with Lotto Max, and I got the big one. When I saw there was only one winner and the jackpot was $65 million, I started jumping for joy, saying, ‘touchdown!'”

His wife was still asleep at the time and Hanley thought about how he should break the news to her.

“Honey, do you want to kiss a millionaire?” he ultimately asked her.

But it didn’t quite go as planned.

“Funny enough, she sternly said, ‘No,’ and tried to go back to sleep,'” Hanley recounted.

He told her to get out of bed and go downstairs so that he could show her the ticket.

Still, though, she didn’t initially realize what had happened.

“She looked at the ticket and thought, ‘So what…?’ So, I told her to go take a shower to fully wake up,” Hanley said.

“When she came back, the reality of this win started to settle in, and she began crying tears of joy.”

The couple decided that they would tell their adult children the news in person.

“We called to make sure they were home, and I said to my wife, ‘Don’t tell them anything – just say we’re coming over,'” Hanley said.

“When they answered the phone and my wife started to talk, she began crying again. She said, ‘We’re coming to see you… I can’t tell you why… but everything’s alright.'”

It caused Hanley to laugh and say, “Oh good, now they think someone died.”

When they arrived at the house, Hanley’s wife had him hold her coffee so she could give their children a hug. She began to cry again and their kids were “overcome with emotion” when they were told the news, the OLG said.

“I felt so good to tell them, and it’s a dream come true to now be able to provide for them in so many incredible ways,” Hanley said.

The retired business software analyst said he also plans to surprise some immediate family members with a portion of the winnings and “travel the world for its food.”

Italy and France are two destinations that are on his list.

And he also mentioned one other thing that he wants — but it seems like it won’t happen.

“I want to buy a castle, but wife won’t let me,” Hanley laughed.

Hanley said that it will take some time for the win to fully sink in.

“I always dreamt of winning a couple of million, but this amount is just baffling,” he said.

The winning ticket was bought at New Town Variety on Yonge Street in Newmarket.