Stunned silence.
That was Anokha Babu’s reaction after learning she and her family of four had won the Lake Life Lottery grand prize, a new home in Lake Country worth $1.75 million.
In an interview with Global News from their two-bedroom apartment in Kelowna, Babu called the win life-changing, calling it “an incredible blessing for our entire family.”
Babu says they had “struck out finding a house within our budget so many times over the last year that my son has been praying for a place to call our own every night.”
“After learning we won, he is the first person I told. I said, ‘Your prayers were strong!’”
The good news came five days ago, on Dec. 15, when Lake Life Lottery phoned her at home, where she works.
“I think it was lunch break,” Babu recalled. “I have this history of not picking up calls at the right time, but, that day, I did.”
Babu said the Lake Life Lottery spokesperson told her she might want to sit down.
“I was kind of busy with work and everything, so I wasn’t, you know, my head was still in work,” said Babu, who, after being told she was the grand prize winner, “just went blank.”
“I think they were expecting more like a scream, or some sort of a reaction. But I just went silent at the time,” added Babu.
“They asked me, ‘Did you forget that you purchased the ticket?’ I said ‘No, I remember purchasing it.’ But I really wasn’t expecting anything back.”
Quickly, though, Babu became excited about becoming a first-time homeowner.
The house is said to have four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a three-car garage and a stunning view of Okanagan Lake. Overall, it’s sized at 2,788 square feet.
Babu’s husband, Shaheen Ashraf, called the win a blessing, saying, “We’d like to thank all the volunteers of Kelowna General Hospital Foundation and Lake Life Lottery.”
“We can’t thank them enough. It’s huge, it’s huge.”
The two both work for Interior Health and were looking to relocate to Prince George, due to the high price of housing in the Central Okanagan.
In fact, they made an offer on a home, but found out on Dec. 14 that their offer had been outbid.
Babu said she told her son about not getting the home, and that he began crying.
“I told him that it was OK, we might get something better,” said Babu. “I told him, ‘You never know, you’ve been praying.’ And I got this call the next day.”
A list of the winners is available on the Lake Life Lottery website.