$20 MILLION LOTTO 6/49 WINDFALL IN CARROT RIVER!

In a town of about 1,000 people, the only thing that moves more quickly than the local grapevine may be an excited husband. As he rushed to tell his wife Lorna they’d just won $20 Million, Craig MacDonald managed to stay one step ahead of his own good news. The couple from Carrot River won $20 Million on the January 23rd LOTTO 6/49 draw!

Craig and Lorna usually play LOTTO 6/49 each Saturday, and Craig bought their winning ticket – a $5 ticket with two Quick Pick Selections and one EXTRA ‘ENTERED’ – from Carrot River Pharmacy. In the week following the draw, Craig didn’t hear there was a $20 Million winning ticket purchased in Saskatchewan. So he didn’t check his ticket until the following Friday, when he went back to the pharmacy to buy a new one.

“When the clerk checked the ticket, I heard the winning sound, but I didn’t know what it had won,” he remembered. “She said, ‘Craig, you’ve won a lot of money.’ I thought it might have won $100. Then she showed it to another clerk. The other clerk said, ‘Oh, my God, Craig; you’ve won $20 Million!’” The MacDonalds’ ticket was the only one sold in Canada to match all six main numbers – 29, 35, 36, 38, 41 and 43 – drawn on January 23rd.

After the clerk called the lottery corporation so Craig could verify the win and find out how to claim the prize, the surprised winner went to find his wife and tell her the news. “She was working a few doors down,” he explained. “I took her into her office and told her to sit down and put on her glasses. Then I showed her the Validation Slip.”

Even faced with the Validation Slip, Lorna had a hard time believing her eyes. “I couldn’t believe it – I thought one of Craig’s friends was playing a joke on us,” she laughed. “It wasn’t until a few minutes later when the owner of the pharmacy came over to congratulate us that it started to sink in.”

The news continued to spread quickly through the town. About half-an-hour later, Craig returned to his office and went to find his boss– “He’s waiting in your office,” someone told him. When he got there, Craig was greeted by co-workers with questions of, “Is it true?”

At the time of their prize claim, the MacDonalds hadn’t yet started making firm plans for their staggering windfall; they indicated that they plan to take some time to think over their options and make decisions. One thing they are sure of is that they’ll share some of their good fortune with their families. “And there might be some ‘toys’ in our future,” Craig laughed.