WINNIPEG -- A group of nursing home coworkers has won the biggest lottery jackpot in the province in over a year.
According to a news release from the Western Canadian Lottery Corp. and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, the group of six is taking home $5 million from the July 25 LOTTO 6/49 draw.
The winners include: Marie Saltel, Cheryl Norman, Karan Lajoie, Karen Roche, Tuan Anh Phan and Louise Pinel.
The day before the draw, Saltel bought the winning Quick Pick ticket at Dakota Family Foods, on St. Mary’s Road. She said this is a purchase she’s made for her coworkers every week for the ten years they’ve been playing together.
“Every Friday, my homework is picking up the tickets,” she said in the news release.
Saltel noted she checked the winning numbers online after the draw, but it was a bit of a struggle to get the rest of the group to believe in the win.
“At first I just couldn’t believe it, so when my son came home I asked him to check the numbers as well. Then when he confirmed I phoned Cheryl and told her – and she thought I was joking,” Saltel said. “Then everyone I told thought I was joking. But they believe it now.”
Saltel added this prize is especially meaningful after the group endured a stressful few months working at a nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just kind of a relief – you don’t have to worry so much about other things,” she said.
“It’s an easier feeling.”
She said she plans on using her share of the winnings to help out with her retirement, noting other members of the group will be using the money to help out their kids and work on home renovations.
This win is the biggest lottery win in Manitoba since a Winnipegger took home a $9.5 million LOTTO Max jackpot in June 2019.
