‘Overjoyed’: Nanoose Bay woman wins $500K lotto prize

A Vancouver Island woman initially thought she won $5, but it turned out her lucky lottery ticket was actually worth half a million dollars.

Marie Hobenshield from Nanoose Bay says she was so overcome with joy when she found out she had won the $500,000 Extra prize from the April 13 Lotto 6/49 draw that her daughter and son-in-law had to help her calm down.

“They were screaming with joy and trying to settle me down!” said Hobenshield, recalling when her lotto plays finally paid off. 

“I went into [Casino Nanaimo] to check my ticket,” she said. “I thought it was $5, and the attendant said, ‘Look again!’ People were hugging me and congratulating me.”

READ PREVIOUS: Lotto luck: Islanders won big in 2023, says BCLC

Hobenshield feels “overjoyed and excited” and plans to use some of her winnings to help her grandchildren with university fees, says the BC Lottery Corporation. She also wants to take her loved ones to Germany, where her late husband was born.

“It was his dream to have the entire family visit there, so I am excited to honour that,” added Hobenshield in a news release.

The BCLC says lotto players in the province have redeemed more than $17 million in winnings from the Extra and $46 million from Lotto 6/49 so far this year.

Lotto luck is nothing new on the Island. In recent months, an Esquimalt man won a $500,000 lottery prize and a few weeks before that, a Ucluelet woman claimed $18 million. A man from Sidney was 2023’s biggest winner after his $55 million jackpot.

Editorial Policies Report an Error