$5M lottery mystery ends as winner steps forward before expiry date
Connie Christie plans to retire and hopes her husband will do the same
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A Beachville woman nearly missed her chance at being a millionaire, until she heard the news that a winning lottery ticket was about to expire.
On April 17, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation announced that time was running out to claim a $5-million Lotto 6/49 jackpot on a ticket purchased in Woodstock.
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Connie Christie was running errands that day but when she heard the news on the radio, she just knew she had the ticket in her possession.
Christie, a regular lottery player, said she typically checks her tickets monthly to see if she’s won anything but admitted she sometimes forgets.
She recalled finding a small stack of tickets she had yet to check and knew deep down one of them was from the May 4, 2024 Lotto 6/49 draw and contained the numbers 2-16-21-27- 38-45 (with the bonus 43).
“I turned to my mom and said, ‘I have a feeling that’s my ticket!’ she recounted while claiming her winnings at OLG headquarters in Toronto.
She dropped her mother off, then went home to check her tickets using the OLG app.
“I saw the ‘Big Winner’ message and put my phone down to pause for moment, then took another look,” Christie said.
“I managed to stay calm, thinking, ‘I did it!’ It was a great feeling.”
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Christie, who works in logistics, gathered her family the next day to share the news.
“Everyone was speculating about what I wanted to tell them,” Christie said with a smile as she remembered the moment.
“I had the winning numbers pulled up on my laptop when my kids guessed, “Did you win the lottery?’”
She replied, “Yes, and it’s a life-changing changing prize — $5 million!”
Christie added: “I would dream of winning big every time I’d check my tickets. I’d think about how I could help my family and the impact it would have on all of us. It feels so validating now, especially after all the times I’d head out to get my tickets and my kids would tease me.”
She always told them, “You can’t win if you don’t play!”
Christie plans to retire and hopes her husband will do the same.
“We can now spend our time doing what we love and enjoying our time together,” Christie detailed.
“I’d also like to treat my husband to a scenic road trip along the Pacific Coast Highway.”
Christie purchased the winning ticket at a Petro-Canada in Woodstock.
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