LETHBRIDGE — A southern Alberta woman “wasn’t really making sense” when she called her husband to tell him they’d won more than $45.6 million in a Lotto 6-49 draw.
Duane Thompson of Lethbridge says he wasn’t sure what his wife, Joanne, was trying to say when she called him at work and just kept repeating: “We won the lotto.”
She says the number of zeros didn’t register in her brain when she took her Nov. 14 ticket to a self-checker at the Casino Lethbridge where she bought the ticket.
But when the lottery clerk scanned the ducat for her, she realized just how big the win actually was.
Thompson and her husband, Duane, say they are stunned and humbled by their good fortune in winning the third-largest Lotto 6-49 in history.
They plan to retire, look after their family and help out the causes they feel passionate about.
One thing they know they won’t do is buy a new house.
“We already live in our dream home, so I don’t think we’ll move,” said Joanne Thompson.
Now that the shock has begun to wear off a bit, the couple are coming to grips with the reality of their windfall.
“It’s a good thing, a blessing, but it’s also a responsibility.”
The two largest Lotto 6-49 jackpots — $54.3 million in 2005 and $49.8 million in 2009 — were also purchased in Alberta.