'Now we can sit back, relax and watch our children grow': Retired paramedic celebrates $800K lotto win
A Leamington, Ont. man and retired paramedic has 800,000 reasons to celebrate after he recently won big on an instant lotto game.
According to a press release from OLG, John Watkins of Leamington won $800,000 after playing the Bigger Spin instant lotto game.
The 64-year-old father, grandfather and retired paramedic said he typically plays the lottery once a week, but this is his first big win.
“I've been playing consistently for 30 years," he said. "I normally play the Big Spin, but I decided to try my luck this time with the Bigger Spin."
Watkins said when he spun the animated wheel at the store and it landed on the Bigger Spin prize, he was excited because it guaranteed a win of at least $500,000. But unbeknownst to Watkins, his actual winnings were going to be much higher.
"I was very shocked and excited,” he said while at the OLG Prize Centre to spin the Bigger Spin wheel in Toronto. “I was so close to landing on $1 million but I am so happy to be walking away with $800,000.”
So what does Watkins plan to do with his newfound winnings? Paying the mortgage, helping his children and saving the rest for a rainy day are in the cards, but that’s not all.
"We will also plan a family vacation," he said. "Now we can sit back, relax and watch our children grow.”
The winning ticket was purchased at Seacliff Stop and Shop Variety on Seacliff Drive in Leamington.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.