A huge lottery win has six Winnipeg co-workers splitting a $5-million prize — the biggest lotto win in the city since June of last year.
Marie Saltel, Cheryl Norman, Karan Lajoie, Karen Roche, Tuan Anh Pham and Louise Pinel, who work together at a local nursing home, had been playing the lottery together for a decade and finally struck it rich on the July 25 Lotto 6/49 draw.
Saltel, who claimed the prize on the group’s behalf, said the group had been buying weekly lottery tickets for so long, it was difficult to convince her co-workers that they’d actually won.
“At first I just couldn’t believe it, so when my son came home I asked him to check the numbers as well. Then when he confirmed I phoned Cheryl and told her – and she thought I was joking,” she said.
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“Then everyone I told thought I was joking — but they believe it now!”
Saltel said it’s been a stressful few months for the group due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the fact that they work as nursing home staff, but the win is going to make things quite a bit easier.
The group plans to spend their winnings on helping their kids, doing home renovations and, for some, planning ahead to upcoming retirements.
“It’s amazing,” said Saltel. “One day things are normal, and the next day everything changes.”
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