Lotto Max Winner Celebrates $40 Million Jackpot
A 51 year old grandmother from Toronto, Canada is still having trouble coming to grips with the fact that she is a millionaire forty times over.
Maria Carreiro hit the jackpot on last Friday's Lotto Max draw and bagged herself the top $40 million prize. The lucky winner explained how she found out that she had won the prize, and the initial mix up about the true amount.
According to the grandmother of five, she went to check her lottery ticket at the supermarket the day after the draw and thought that she had won $40,000.
"I went home and I told my daughter, 'Oh, I won $40,000, I won $40,000!'", she recalled.
However, after her daughter checked online and saw that the Lotto Max draw actually offered a 'slightly' bigger prize, and said, "Mommy, you're $40 million richer," Carreiro ran back to the store "like a crazy woman" to check her ticket another time in a state of disbelief.
"It said $40 million and then I go: 'Oh my God!'", Carreiro told reporters on Monday. "And I ran back up the street, home and I go, 'I need a glass of water'. So I drank a glass of water and said, 'Let me go sit down and relax', and that was it."
Plans for $40 Million Lotto Max Prize
Carreiro's husband needed a little bit of convincing that his wife was indeed the latest Lotto Max winner, but when the news sank in, the first thing he did was quit his job, giving just one day's notice."
The first thing that the winners did as a family was go out to a Chinese eatery, The Mandarin and enjoy an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Carreiro also said that she was already planning a trip to Hawaii as her first honeymoon in 30 years of marriage. "It's my life dream," she said, celebrating her Lotto Max $40 million jackpot.
Lottery Winners Pay Off Debts
The latest Lotto Max winner's plans to take a trip overseas is in line with what most winners do with their new found wealth.
According to statistics released by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp, 56% of winners took a vacation, while more then 60% paid off $1 million in debt.
35% of lottery winners bought a new house, while 43% either retired, changed jobs or quit.
