Another lottery ticket has won big money for a Toronto-area resident after a Markham woman claimed a $22.6 million jackpot.
Richmond Hill resident Vivian Leung claimed her prize Thursday afternoon, becoming the 13th Ontarian to win a jackpot since Lotto Max was launched in September 2009.
Leung, a manager at a store selling hair products, said she slipped away from work during lunch on Tuesday to check her ticket at a nearby convenience store. She said she had to run it through a ticket reader twice before she would believe her luck.
"It was hard to keep calm. It's not real to me yet, I didn't really believe it. So I went back to work," she told reporters at OLG headquarters after accepting her cheque.
Leung moved to Toronto from Hong Kong 27 years ago. She said she used to play the lottery regularly, but now only plays once in a while. She bought her winning ticket on May 29 on a whim.
Leung says she is unsure about what to do next. She doesn't want to quit her job, but says too many people know about her newfound wealth.
"I want to get back to real life. I don't want to change my lifestyle. These last two days, that's what I have been worrying about," she said.
Leung did say she wanted to move her 84-year-old father to Toronto from Edmonton and buy him an apartment.
Ontarians have won over $761 million during that time, including a number of $50 million jackpots and 118 $1 million bonus draws.
A number of massive lottery jackpots have been won in the Toronto area in recent months. A Toronto ticket was one of three to split a $50 million prize in April.
A $50 million jackpot was claimed by three Toronto bakery workers in March, while a group of 19 Bell Canada workers won the jackpot in January before nine other stepped forward to claim partial ownership. OLG paid the original group $31.7 million, while ownership of the rest of the prize remains embroiled in a court dispute.
Another $50 million prize was also won by a group of Toronto-area factory workers, who faced a similar dispute with an additional claimant.
