TORONTO – A Toronto school teacher who claimed a $21-million Lotto Max prize today says the ticket was on his fridge while he backpacked through Europe this summer.
Craig Henshaw, 42, says he and his girlfriend spent the summer travelling and it wasn’t until school started again that he decided to check a whole stack of tickets.
Henshaw says he walked around with the winning ticket in his pocket all day before checking it at a grocery store on the way home from work.
He initially believed he had won $21,000, and when a lottery official told him it was $21 million he was so floored he dropped the phone.
Henshaw showed up at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming prize centre this morning to claim the jackpot from the July 8 draw.
The wood shop and technology teacher was the only winner.
“I still can’t believe it,” Henshaw said.
“This just doesn’t seem real. All the things that I want to do, such as buy my first home and settle down, are now going to be a possibility.”
Henshaw says one of the first things he is going to do is set up an education fund for his nieces and nephew and help a close friend with tuition.
“And then I’m taking my parents on a trip somewhere warm and taking my girlfriend back to Europe in style,” he laughed.
Henshaw says that he will take a year off from teaching, but enjoys teaching too much to imagine a future without it.
- Calgary declares state of local emergency over water crisis prompted by feeder main break
- His Apple Watch warned of an irregular heart rate. Turns out he was having a heart attack
- Quebec restaurant halts free-meal program after warning over English-only text
- COVID-19, Ebola, bird flu: What to know about zoonotic diseases
Comments