Shortly after becoming new parents, a couple from Iroquois Falls┬аnortheast of Timmins, Ont.,┬аbecame $70-million richer after winning the big prize in the Aug. 20 Lotto Max draw.
Kyle Murray told Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) he bought his first-ever lottery ticket after picking up his mom at the Timmins airport so she could meet her new grandchild.┬а
“I got the ticket and put it on the fridge and kind of forgot about it until the next morning when social media posts from a friend told us that someone in the area won,” he said.
Murray’s partner, Jennifer Stuart-Flynn, checked their ticket with the OLG app and got a notification it was a winning ticket.
Congrats to Jennifer and Kyle of Iroquois Falls, Ontario on their $70 Million LOTTO MAX win! We wish you the best as you make amazing life-long memories with your family! <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/DreamToTheMax?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#DreamToTheMax</a> <a href=”https://t.co/tCXw0NK0GB”>pic.twitter.com/tCXw0NK0GB</a>
—@OLG_CA
“I took a big breath and I stopped. I closed the app, I reopened it and I did it again,” she said.
“Kyle was like, ‘What ? Did we win?’ I was like, ‘I think we might have.'”
Stuart-Flynn said┬аthe first thing she wants to do with the money is buy her sister a house.
“I love her, and she is the greatest person in the world, and she deserves it,” she said.
Stuart-Flynn told OLG she gets emotional thinking about how her children will never have to worry about money.
“I realize that my kids are going to have a way different life than I had growing up,” she said.
Murray said┬аhe wants to use some of the money to buy some land and build a little farm.
“You know, to set something up that the kids will want to┬аcome back to,” he said.
Murray said┬аthey’ve faced some struggles as a family the last few years.
“And everything we did was try to give them [their children] a better life, and nothing we did got us to the point that we’re on now.”