Woman didn’t know she had the winning lottery numbers until a year after playing.
What a way to kick off the festive season. One lucky Canadian resident was paid a visit by some lottery officials, to inform that she was the winner of a $50m lottery prize from a ticket she bought a year earlier.
The $50 million jackpot prize was drawn November 30, 2012. For over a year many people have been coming forward believing that their tickets held the winning lottery numbersbut that was never the case. According to the president and CEO of Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp, Rod Phillips, 435 people claimed to be winners, only to be rejected when the checks were carried out.
Now usually unclaimed lottery prizes will remain that way, as millions from lotteries around the world remain unclaimed to this day, but not when it comes to Canadian Lotteries, these officials go above and beyond duty for their customers.
With every claim of a win an investigation followed and it was during one of these investigations that Kathryn Jones’ name came up as the possible winner of the $50 million prize.
“Through our transactions database, we determined the time, date and location of the purchase,” said another lottery official, Mike Hamel. “We obtained store security video, which clearly shows the identified winner purchasing the winning ticket.”
Jones purchased the lottery ticket with the winning lottery numbers in Cambridge, Ontario, but had lost it shortly afterward, so have been living her life for a year oblivious that she was a millionaire.
The 55-year-old Hamilton, Ontario woman was caught in a brief state of total disbelief when lottery officials showed up at her doorstep, trying to convince her that she had bought a winning ticket more than a year ago. But then again who wouldn’t be wary of that. I personally would be looking around for the cameras and the host of some new practical joke TV show.
Fortunately for Kathryn, on this occasion, it was no joke and she can now look forward to living the rest of her life as a millionaire thanks to the diligent work of those Canadian Lottery officials.
You never know, you might be the next to get a visit from a lottery official informing you about an unclaimed prize. Although you may have to be playing the Canadian Lotteries to get such a chance of not claiming your own winning lottery numbers.