Bernard Morissette has been playing the same lottery numbers for years, and after nearly forgetting, he made a purchase in the nick of time that paid off with a whopping $40 million.
The retired gym teacher from Quebec’s Outaouais region was one half of a fortunate duo in a record-breaking lottery worth $80 million.
The Lotto Max jackpot was split between two winning tickets located in Quebec and Ontario. Each winner from Tuesday night’s draw gets to take home $40 million.
Morissette, who is in his 80s, suddenly remembered he hadn’t bought his ticket around 9 p.m. the night of the historic draw. He was watching television when he went to buy the ticket online.
“I completely forgot,” he admitted.
Morissette then made the last-minute purchase with the same lottery numbers he always plays. The first six digits are the dates of his grandchildren’s birthdays.
On Wednesday, a Loto-Québec employee reached out to him with the life-changing news: he’s a multi-millionaire.
The senior immediately called out to his wife Rachel that they had won. When he saw the amount on his computer screen, he knew it was real.
At first, their children didn’t believe their father’s newfound fortune.
“They all went to see the screen, one by one. Even then I think they were still skeptical,” he said.
Morissette made his way to Montreal by limo on Friday, where he spoke to reporters about his plans for his prize money. While he’s mulling what he wants to do, he does have at least one purchase in mind.
“I think my first treat will be an electric car,” he said.
As a big sports fan, he also hopes to go see professional soccer games in Italy.
The father of three plans to use the windfall for his children’s future. His son Martin Morissette says when his mom called to tell him, she told him to sit down and he was worried something bad happened.
“It’s a little unreal because it’s such a big amount. It’s hard to compute,” Martin Morissette said.
When his dad told him he could retire, Martin Morissette took him up on it and left his construction job. A week ago, he married his partner of 19 years and he looks forward to spending time with their families.
“You see that in the movies,” he said.
There has been no release from Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation about the winner in that province.
— with files from Global’s Dan Spector and Gabby Rodrigues