Manitoba man had $10M winning lotto ticket sitting at home for months

Supplied image of Jeff Morton.

One Manitoba man won $10 million in the Aug. 14 LOTTO 6/49 draw, but he didn’t realize it until December.

Jeff Morton from Hamiota, Man., went months with the winning ticket sitting on a shelf at home before he discovered his big win.

“I don’t make special trips to the store to check my lottery tickets,” he said in a Thursday news release from the Western Canadian Lottery Corporation and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries.

“So, I always end up checking a few of them at a time.”

Morton noted that he heard about an unclaimed $10-million ticket purchased somewhere in Manitoba on the radio, but never thought that would be the winner.

However, in mid-December, Morton learned he was wrong.

He said when he first learned of his win, he held it together.

“It didn’t really sink in until I got home and thought about it a bit more,” Morton said.

Morton said he doesn’t have any big plans yet for his winnings, but does have a few smaller ideas.

“I’m not really sure what I’m going to do with all of this,” he said.

“I’m going to do some of the obvious things, like pay off my mortgage and any other bills… but as far as big, big plans go, I don’t have anything.”

Morton added he’s going to continue to work for the next little bit, but would like to retire before he turns 65 next summer.

Morton’s winning ticket was a Free Play Ticket he won from a previous draw. He redeemed the $10 million winning ticket at the Hamiota Super Thrifty Drug Mart.

Morton split the Aug. 14 $20 million jackpot with another winner who purchased their ticket in Ontario.