It took Evert Austria longer than expected to collect on his winning ticket, but he’s not complaining.
The Prince Albert resident carried around a Lotto Max ticket for months without checking it. When he did, he found out he’d won $1 million.
“I’m just still in shock,” Austria said in a press release. “I was thinking it was $100,000 and I thought, ‘right on.’ It was much more than that. We will make it grow and help other people along the way.”
Austria purchased the ticket at a retail store in Prince Albert, but never checked it because he kept it in a separate wallet. When he finally remembered to checked, it was only because he was waiting in line at a store and had time to spare.
Austria called his mom after winning. His father died recently, and Austria promised to take care of her and his siblings.
“It’s a chance to carry on my father’s legacy,” Austria said.
“It was my last promise to him,” he added. “I’m not thinking about what I’m going to buy myself. I told my wife, ‘we have everything we need. It’s going to help my family.’ I want to give back to the hospital that delivered my kids too.”
Austria was off sick from work the day before finding out about his win. Afterwards, his boss called to check in on how he was doing.
“I said, ‘I feel like a million bucks,” Austria said.
