Scarborough senior celebrates birthday with $1M Lotto Max win: '83 IS MY YEAR!'

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A Scarborough senior is the city’s latest million-dollar winner — and it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

Virginia Zapanta, who says she has been a loyal lottery player for more than 40 years, checked her tickets on her birthday only to learn she had won the $1-million Maxmillions prize in the April 25 Lotto Max draw.

“I was shopping at the mall and on my way out, I came across a kiosk, so I decided to stop and grab a ticket,” she recounted while collecting her winnings at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.

It was on her birthday, a few days after the draw, when she went to get her ticket validated and learned she’d won her first big OLG prize.

“When I saw the prize amount on the screen, I froze,” she recalled.

“My heart started racing as I stood there in shock,” Zapanta continued. “I turned to the store clerk and asked, ‘Is this real? This can’t be real!’”

Zapanta said her winnings over the years have consisted of free plays or $5 here and there.

“But $1 million? Wow — it’s just crazy,” she said with a laugh.

“Never in my life did I prepare myself for a win like this. I’ve never seen such a large amount before!”

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She added that her friends “started dancing around me,” when she told them the incredible news.

“They’re all so happy for me.”

Zapanta, who purchased her winning ticket at Gateway Lotto Centre on Tapscott Rd., said she plans to share the jackpot with her family, pay off her mortgage, and treat herself to a well-deserved shopping spree — perhaps at the mall where she bought the ticket.

“This win lets me cross one of the last few things off my bucket list,” she added.

“This is hands down one of my favourite birthdays ever. 83 is my year!”