A B.C. woman couldn't believe her April Fools' Day lottery win.
On the night of the draw, Thelma Florence said her hometown of Hope was buzzing with the news of a local winner. When she nervously checked her ticket on the BCLC Lotto! app the next morning, she was shocked to discover that she had the winning ticket.
The Hope resident won $1 million from the Lotto 6/49 draw on April 1.
“I thought, ‘Is this real? Me? Really?’’’ said Florence. “I sent a screenshot of the app into the family group chat and everyone wondered if it was a late April Fools’ Day joke.”
Florence plans to use her win to buy a new car in her favourite colour, green, and help her grandchildren purchase new vehicles, too. She says that she is "happy and excited" for her and her family.
Florence is a member of the Chawathil First Nation and a survivor of the residential school at St. Mary’s Mission and Residential School. She now visits schools in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley to speak about her experiences. Emphasizing the significance of this truth-telling, Florence said she will continue to share her story with young people in the region to promote awareness about the residential school system.
The B.C. woman bought her ticket at Bee’s Food Market in Hope.
