Two Lucky Mississauga Residents Take Home Big Lotto Wins
Published January 12, 2017 at 9:34 pm
We’ve always said Mississauga is lucky when it comes to the lottery and it looks like the lotto gods have once again smiled upon our fair city.
Recently, two lucky winners took home prizes of $500,000 and $100,000 respectively.
The exciting half a million dollar Lotto Maxmillions prize from the Jan. 6 draw went to Trevor Thorpe and the $100,000 Instant Crossword Tripler prize went to Lubelia Furtado.
“Just before I purchased my winning ticket, I had a meeting with my financial advisor,” Thorpe told OLG at the Prize Centre in Toronto. “He asked, ‘Are you planning to retire soon?’ My answer was, ‘No, not yet.’”
According to OLG, the 67-year-old father of four went to the store to buy some lottery tickets after leaving the centre. “I won a Free Play with a previous ticket so I decided to redeem it. Little did I know that ticket would turn out to be a big winner.”
Thorpe scanned his tickets the day after the draw.
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“I scanned them in the ticket checker. The winning ticket was the last one I scanned. I saw the words, ‘Big Winner’ appear on the screen! I rescanned the ticket three times and then asked the retailer to validate it.”
Thorpe told OLG that he called one of his daughters right after his big win.
“The whole family went to watch my grandson play basketball. I asked her how long they would be and told them they all had to come over to the house when the game was done. She asked, ‘All of us? Are you okay?’ I said, ‘I’m fine. I just want everyone to come over.’ When the game was over they all rushed into the house and kept asking, ‘What happened?’ I told them, ‘I made everyone’s favourite soup for dinner.’ Then I pulled out the ticket and said, ‘I just won the lottery!’ They all hugged me with excitement and couldn’t believe it.”
Thorpe told OLG that he plans to retire this summer and give his children “a nice gift.” He also has a few other plans for the money.
“I can renovate the house, maybe take a trip to Jamaica to visit my family and maybe even start going down there for the winter months. The rest will be saved. I can now enjoy life, stress-free, and hopefully, winter-free,” he said.
The winning ticket was purchased at Kang Duo Inc. on Burnhamthorpe Road in Mississauga.
The second winner, Mississauga resident Lubeila Furtado, was also thrilled by her win.
“At first I thought I won $100,” the 58-year-old mother of two told OLG at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto. “I scanned it in the ticket checker again and saw another zero. So I figured I won $1,000. The retailer came over and we scanned the ticket together. She got so excited and told me I won $100,000. The retailer then validated the ticket at the terminal.”
On the way home, Furtado called her two sons to share the news.
“Both my sons had a hard time believing I won. They told me to put the ticket away in a safe place. When I got home, my husband was online, looking at trips to Cuba. I said to him, ‘Find one and book it. We are going!’ He looked at me and said, ‘How?’ Then I pulled out the ticket and showed him the amount. He immediately got emotional and hugged me. He wouldn’t let go. That night we waited for our sons to arrive and celebrated with a big dinner.”
Furtado has already made some plans for her newfound fortune.
“Our sons both live in Montreal and they drove down to see us that day. I was so happy and grateful that they were able to do that. I will be paying off some bills with the money I won but most of it will be going to my sons. They will both be getting down payments for their new houses. As for me, I will be taking a trip to Cuba with my husband. Going somewhere hot would be nice right now,” she said.
Furtado’s winning ticket was purchased at The Ticket House on Front Street in Toronto.
