Ontario couple claim $1 million Lotto 649 prize after a month

ONTARIO COUPLE CLAIM $1 MILLION LOTTO 649 PRIZE AFTER A MONTH

A couple from Kent Bridge in Ontario, Canada, have claimed a $1 million prize which they won on the Lotto 649 back in December.Andrew and Mary Ellen Van Zeist won their prize as one of the guaranteed $1 million prizes in the December 23rd Lotto 649 drawing, and they finally claimed it a month later, on January 22nd, 2018. Mr Van Zeist, who works as a production manager, told lottery officials that he stopped off at a gas station to check his lottery tickets when he discovered his big win. Just last month we told you about another Ontario Lotto 649 winner of $1 million, who took home her winnings after playing the same numbers for 30 years.Checking his Lotto 649 selection on the Ticket Checker, the Ontarian said that he was certainly surprised. “I was very surprised when I saw the $1 million on the screen, I thought the machine was broken,” he admitted to OLG officials when the couple collected their prize in Toronto. “I asked the gentleman beside me to have a look when I rescanned my ticket. Once the worlds ‘$1 million’ flashed on the screen he wanted to shake my hand.”The lucky Lotto 649 winner then took himself back home to let his wife Mary Ellen in on the good news. “When I walked in the door, I asked her if I could retire next week,” Mr Van Zeist said of his wife of 30 years. A taxi driver from Gloucester in England retired almost immediately after winning £24.43 million on the UK Lotto.Just like a woman from Québec who also thought her husband was joking when he told her he’d won $10 million on the Lotto Max, Mrs Van Zeist said that she primarily thought that her husband was joking. “I was in the middle of cooking dinner and I said, ‘Sure, you can retire,’ thinking he was joking.” However, once Mr Van Zeist had explained that they’d won $1 million on the Lotto 649 and needed to take a trip to Toronto to claim it, his wife said that she stopped cooking and began to cry.Besides retirement, the parents of one plan to buy a new truck, a new recliner, and plan to travel more. “We feel very blessed,” Mr Van Zeist said. Last week we told you about a Tennessee Mega Millions winner who went truck shopping on his way to claim his $1 million prize, while a man from northern Ontario who won $100,000 on the Lotto 649 Encore planned a lot of travel after his lottery win.Take the first step towards your plans and purchase your tickets online at Lottery24.com.