Naked man learns he won $40 million lottery in Canada

A new fishing rod and a set of $3,000 speakers are on an Oshawa man’s wish list after winning $40 million in the Feb. 21 Lotto Max draw.

If there’s any money left over – and it appears there might be – 79-year-old Bernard White is going to make sure his daughter is “well taken care of.”

White, a retired railway employee, is still trying to come to terms with the fact he’s Ontario’s newest multimillionaire after collecting his cheque during a recent OLG Winner Celebration.

He also had an amusing tale to tell about finding out he won the jackpot.

“For a couple of years, I’ve been buying two Lotto Max tickets a week – one for me and one for my daughter. Before I go to bed, I always tell her to pick one. This time, she picked the wrong one,” he said.

“My daughter wakes up very early for work and the morning after the draw, she knocked on my bedroom door, waking me a from a deep sleep. She said, ‘Dad, I think you won $40,000 on your Lotto Max ticket.’ I looked at her, half asleep, and replied, ‘That’s great! Now we can now both pay off our cars’.”

White laid his head back on his pillow, but was too excited to fall back asleep.

“Five or 10 minutes later, there was another knock on the door and my daughter said, ‘Umm … Dad, I think you won $40 million.’ Now I really wanted to jump out of bed, but I couldn’t because I sleep in the nude. I would’ve hit the ceiling if I’d had underwear on.”

READ MORE: $1 million lottery ticket sold in this Canadian city expires soon

Despite all the excitement, his daughter went to work, but she struggled to focus. She knew her dad was thrilled at home, so she decided to leave early.

“When my daughter came home, we both went to the store where I’d bought the ticket. We checked it at the lottery terminal and it lit up like a Christmas tree.”

Still overwhelmed by the news, White hopped into his car.

“I knew that would calm me down – a nice, long drive,” he said, wanting to share the news with his longtime partner.

“I told her I’d won $40,000 – I couldn’t get that thought out of my mind. She didn’t believe me because I pull pranks on her all the time. I then told her I’d won $40 million and even showed her the ticket, but it didn’t convince her right away. In fact, I was having a difficult time even saying ‘I won $40 million.’ It felt so surreal.”

The 79-year-old is an avid fisherman and music lover, which is why the new rod and speakers are on his list.

But he also has a big family with many siblings and wants to help them as well.

“I’ve dreamt about winning big money and sharing it with my family. It’s going to be a wonderful feeling to help them. I’ll be the favourite uncle for sure.”

His daughter is on the top of his list, however.

“My daughter means a lot to me because, when my late wife and I had her, she was the only child we could have. She’s going to be well taken care of.”

White also plans to travel – a cruise around Newfoundland, where he was born, is a possibility – and support some important health organizations.

“There are several causes that are very close to my heart, and substantial donations will be made,” he said.

While he has lived a good life so far, White said he plans to “live life to the fullest and have fun.”

He purchased his winning ticket at the Shell gas station, on Taunton Road East in Oshawa.