ONTARIO TEEN WON C$48 MILLION LOTTERY ON HER FIRST TICKET
An 18-year-old Ontario woman bought her first lottery ticket for fun and won a C$48 million Lotto 6/49 jackpot.
Juliette Lamour, 18, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, held the only winning ticket for the Gold Ball prize in the January 7, 2023 draw. She had never bought a lottery ticket before.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) called her the youngest person in Canadian lottery history to win a jackpot that size, Global News reported.
CBS News quoted Lamour from an OLG media conference: “I had just turned 18 and my grandfather suggested I buy a lottery ticket for fun.”
From piggy bank to jackpot
Giving back was not new for her. At age 5, Lamour and her sister Sophie emptied their shared piggy bank and donated just over C$60 to the Canadian Red Cross to help people affected by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, My Modern Met reported.
The winning purchase started with an ice cream run. Lamour was headed to see her grandfather and stopped at a convenience store to pick up a treat for him.
She said her grandfather had told her: “You just turned 18, go buy a lotto ticket, test your luck.”
She had no idea how to buy one, so she called her father. “Dad, Grandpa wants me to buy a ticket. How do I do it?” she asked.
“Oh, just go inside and get a QuickPick,” he told her.
The ticket was bought at a Circle K on McNabb Street in Sault Ste. Marie, OLG said.
Lamour found out she had won while working as a pharmacist’s assistant. Her boss checked the ticket on the OLG app, which flashed “Big Winner” and played a jingle.
“My colleague fell to his knees in disbelief,” she said at the OLG media conference. “He was screaming, in fact everyone was screaming that I had won $48 million.”
At the time, Lamour was studying biology at Algoma University, CBC reported.
What happened next
OLG announced Lamour as the winner and presented her with the prize on February 3, 2023.
She said the money made medical school easier to pursue. “I wanted to go to medical school before winning the lottery. Now I can pursue this dream without worrying about grants or loans,” she told My Modern Met.
Lamour also said she had been eligible for educational assistance through Garden River First Nation. Not needing that support, she said, could allow someone else in the community to benefit.
Good Morning America reported that she planned to invest most of the winnings with help from her father, whom it described as a financial planner.
Her plans also include travel. “Once school is done, my family and I will pick a continent and start exploring,” Lamour said.
