A Sooke man can live his dreams of retiring and traveling abroad after taking home a $1-million win in Lotto 6/49’s guaranteed prize draw.
Patrick O’Leary, who’s been an excavator for 20 years, bought his ticket from a Petro Canada station at 6692 Sooke Road for the March 24 draw.
When he checked it at a local drugstore where he likes to buy his cream every Saturday, something strange happened.
“I checked (the ticket) the first time and couldn’t make out what was on the screen because I didn’t have my glasses on,” said O’Leary. “Then I checked the second time by going to see the clerk and I thought something screwed up as the machine shut down!”
It was then he realized the machine shut down because of a major win, prompting him to immediately call his fiancé.
“Her first reaction was disbelief as I tend to joke a lot,” OLeary said. “But I would never joke about something like this. Once she realized this was true, she was shocked and repeated ‘Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!’”
They celebrated the big win with champagne and have since been planning what to do with the $1 million.
Once the COVID-19 situation is safer, O’Leary said he and his fiancé want to plan a return trip to Ireland to visit friends and family.
“It feels great,” he said. “Surreal – it’s hard to describe.”
CHEK News
