OLDS — An Olds resident plans to at least semi-retire after winning $1 million via a lottery.
Brett Durand won the money in the Sept. 17 Western Max draw.
He bought the winning ticket at Circle K in Olds and won one of the million-dollar additional prize draws on the by correctly matching the selection: 1, 3, 31, 34, 40, 42 and 49.
A Western Canada Lottery Corp. news release issued Oct. 31 says Durand originally won a free play on a Western Max ticket months ago.
“I scanned it and thought, ‘There’s no decimal,’” he said with a laugh. “I kept looking for the decimal place and gradually realized it was actually a million.”
He took the ticket home to show his wife right away.
“She thought I was joking,” he said in the news release. “She had the biggest smile when she realized we can both semi-retire and give our bodies a break.”
“Her birthday is next week and I’m going to surprise her with a little something,” he added.
Durand said the million-dollar win is “very relieving.”
“It’s a lot of money. Life-changing in a way that allows us to walk into the next chapter.”
Their pets will also share in the good fortune.
“We have a lot of animals,” Durand said. “We likely won’t be travelling much, but maybe we can get a babysitter for them now,” he said with a chuckle.
