Ontario man wins $70-million Lotto Max jackpot but says he has no plan to retire
After about 30 years of playing the lottery and dreaming of a winning ticket, the day finally came for a father in Brampton, Ont. who is now $70-million richer.
“I had many dreams about winning it ‘big’ one day and a few times I came close,” said 54-year-old Manoharan Ponnuthurai while picking up his jackpot cheque at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.
About 15 years ago, he won $2,800, but he never came close to his current multimillion dollar earnings.
This time around, Ponnuthurai heard the news first: there was a winning ticket in Brampton from the Dec. 17 draw. He pulled out his Lotto ticket and saw his first four numbers were a match.
“I was so shaky I couldn’t continue,” Ponnuthurai said.
He called for his wife and children to help him read the remaining numbers. “As each number matched, my heart was racing faster and faster.”
In shock, he quietly kept saying to himself, “I won. I won!”
While Ponnuthurai is a multimillionaire, he has no plan to retire. As the owner of a small manufacturing company, he has several employees who depend on him for a living. But, his wife is ready to leave her job and head back to school.
At the top of Ponnuthurai’s list of priorities, he wants to spend his $70-million on a new house for his family and explore beaches in Europe set on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
“I am so happy about my family’s future. Whatever we decide to do, we will do it as family and that is the most important to me!”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.