A Prince Rupert woman is a new multi-millionaire after winning more than $5.8 million dollars in the 6/49 Lotto, with a ticket she almost didn鈥檛 buy.
Juanita Parnell, a Nisga鈥檃 Urban Local Representative, said at the lotto cheque presentation on Oct. 20, she found out at midnight on Oct. 6, she had won the Lotto 6/49 jackpot, after a phone call from her daughter saying someone in the city had won.
She said she didn鈥檛 fall asleep until after 3:30 a.m., with excitement from the news.
鈥淚 wish there was somebody else with me at the time, but there wasn鈥檛. I was just by myself and thought 鈥極h wow, this is something else.鈥�
鈥淚 was in a rush to buy my ticket. I had actually forgotten,鈥� she said, adding due to the rush she was worried she would miss out.
Parnell shares the grand prize of more than $11 million dollars with a winner in Ontario.
She has been playing with the same set of numbers for the past 20 years, which she chose from a Quick Pick purchased years ago.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no rhyme or reason why I鈥檝e stuck with them. I think I鈥檝e missed playing them only three times.鈥�
She has no plans on what to do with her winnings at the moment but she would like to take her grandchildren on a vacation, share some money with her family and buy a house. She made a special mention that she may donate to causes close to her heart like the Trap Neuter and Release (TNR) program for cats in the city.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never been able to go on a vacation together all at once,鈥� Parnell said. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to take them to Disney World in Florida.鈥�
鈥淚 have to take a look at my options at what I鈥檓 going to do.鈥�
She bought the winning ticket at West End Grocery with the winning six numbers being 7, 18, 19, 38, 42 and 46 with bonus number 31.
Norman Galimski | Journalist
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