EDMONTON – Joan and Wade Lidkea are Canada’s newest multimillionaires.
The Edmontonians found out they won the $30 million Oct. 10 Lotto Max jackpot over the Thanksgiving long weekend. The Lidkeas checked their tickets on Saturday morning, follow the draw Friday night.
“I was checking this ticket and I got to the last set and I said, ‘I have all the numbers,'” Joan recalled.
Wade reacted by cracking a joke, saying his wife must have been reading the ticket incorrectly.
“He came into the room and took a look and said, ‘Yes, yes, you do have them all,'” Joan said.
“I wanted to throw up. And then we both started shaking.”
“I got sweaty hands and I didn’t know what to do,” Wade added.
Still in shock, the Lidkeas quickly went to Ritchie Foods, where they purchased the ticket, to double check their winnings.
“It’s pretty mind-blowing,” Joan said.
The winning numbers were one of two quick pick selections on their ticket: 5, 13, 18, 28, 31, 38 and 44.
Joan and Wade were presented with their cheque, worth a whopping $30,818,287.80, Thursday afternoon in St. Albert.
This is the fourth largest lottery jackpot to be claimed in Edmonton since November 1980. The largest jackpot, worth $50 million, was claimed in December 2013.