A Grand Forks resident says he “freaked out” after scanning a winning lottery ticket worth a cool million.
Colton Burwash says he purchased the lottery ticket for the June 15 Lotto Max draw at Canco in Christina Lake, then later scanned it on his cellphone via B.C. Lottery’s lotto app.
At first, Burwash said he thought his phone had a glitch, only to discover there was no glitch — he’d just won $1 million.
“It was a blur,” said Burwash. “I was getting ready for work … and thought, why not check my ticket? I freaked out and thought I was going crazy.”
Burwash said he first called his roommate about the win, then called his family.
“Everyone thought I was joking around,” he said.
“The first few days after finding out, I felt like I would wake up and it was going to be some sort of dream.”
To celebrate his financial windfall, Burwash took his roommate and parents out for dinner.
As for what’s next, Burwash says he plans on taking more vacation time this summer and wants to invest his winnings for early retirement.
“I think this is life-changing,” he said. “To me, this is forever a huge change.”
According to the B.C. Lottery Corporation, B.C. lottery players have won more than $91 million in winnings from Lotto Max so far this year.