Windsor man wobbled when lotto win affirmed
Seventy-five-year-old winner of $1M says he’ll be mortgage free, may retire
A Windsor man is $1 million richer thanks to a Lotto 6/49 ticket from March.
Raymond Jido won the guaranteed $1-million prize in the March 15 draw, plus another $2 on Encore.
“I decided to check my lottery tickets at olg.ca while eating my breakfast,” Jido told the workers at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto.
“I always choose my own numbers.”
Jido, 75, a father and grandfather, was taken aback when he realized he had matched the numbers.
“My mouth dropped open,” Jido said.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes. My first thoughts were, ‘Who do I call now? I can’t call my wife because she would freak out. I didn’t want to call my daughters in case they were driving, so I decided to wait until 5 p.m. so I could share the good news with everyone at home.’”
After recognizing the matched numbers online, Jido went to the nearby store to validate his ticket.
“I asked the retailer to check my ticket and Big Winner appeared on the screen,” Jido said.
“The terminal froze and OLG called to speak with me. When I saw the validation slip my knees went weak and I began to shake. I was having trouble standing straight.”
Jido went home to share the good news.
“I yelled, ‘Your dad is the million dollar winner from Windsor!’” Jido said.
“One of my daughters began to cry while the other one gave me a huge hug. Meanwhile, my wife froze from shock.”
Jido has many plans for his $1-million windfall.
“With this prize, I will be mortgage free,” Jido said.
“I might buy a new car for myself and maybe go on a family trip somewhere. We haven’t decided anything yet but it is in our future. Winning the lottery gives me financial freedom and it means my retirement is set. I may even retire.”
The winning ticket was purchased at Sam’s Wings Variety on Forest Glade Drive.