Ever since their then nine-month-old daughter had to be flown by STARS Air Ambulance, the Sage family of Lacombe has always bought the non-profit’s calendars and lottery tickets.
Brent Sage said it was how he could give back and he never expected anything to come of it. But on Thursday, he found out he won a dream home in Calgary valued at $948,000.
Sue Sage said her husband Brent really scared her Thursday morning when he found out he had won one of the four dream homes in the STARS Air Ambulance lottery.
“He came up from his home office in tears,” said Sue. “He was all over the place saying ‘I can’t believe this, this isn’t real.’ I was so worried, I looked all around for something that has happened that has gone wrong.
“Then he said ‘honey, we won this dream home.’”
She was taking care of the winning ticket on Thursday.
Brent said he has always supported STARS Air Ambulance and winning something from the lottery had never really entered his mind. In 1990, they needed STARS when their daughter was nine-months-old. She was born prematurely and had complications in her early life.
She had to be flown by STARS to the University of Alberta hospital from the Red Deer hospital and she stayed in the Edmonton hospital for a few months.
“You never expect to win,” said Brent. “Since that day she was flown, I’ve bought their calendars and toys. Anytime I saw a STARS stand in the grocery store, I’ll buy calendars and tickets. It’s my way of giving back and I honestly never expected to win.
“It’s more than I could have asked for.”
Brent was born and raised in Lacombe and the family has no plans to relocate into the dream home they won. Though, Brent said they might spend one night in the dream home.
Aside from paying off their mortgage, Brent said the money will go towards retirement and family.
“It’s going to be fun,” said Brent. “My daughter gets married in July so I’m sure that something is going to happen to make it a little nicer or better. But it’s all about family.
“We love travelling to Mexico, so I’m sure we’ll travel there a little more or stay a few days longer.”
The lottery raised $10 million for STARS and 95 per cent of the tickets were sold.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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