It was a Christmas to go down in the books for one couple from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, with a life changing win.
Heather and Peter Bryan won $2.5 million in the Lotto 6/49 Classic Jackpot draw when they matched all six numbers from December 21.
In a media release from Atlantic Lottery, Heather says she and her daughter were wrapping presents and watching Christmas movies when Peter announced what had just happened.
“He came and stood in front of us. His face was ashen, his eyes were glassy …and I said, ‘What’s wrong?'”.
Peter then told his family they won the lottery. When they asked how much he said – “All of it.”
The moment he knew
Peter had seen that someone in Dartmouth had won the money, so he thought he’d better check his ticket.
“My coat was downstairs where I knew my ticket was, so I went down to grab it. As I was going down, I saw the first few numbers on my phone, and then when I grabbed the ticket and looked, I saw those numbers on the first line.”
That’s when he just stopped and said, “I can’t”.
“I opened the Atlantic Lottery app on my phone and used the mobile scanner to scan the ticket.”
A ‘thrilling’ Christmas moment
Because the win happened over the holidays, the Bryans say it felt especially “thrilling” as they enjoyed their festive traditions and stored the ticket in a cookie jar.
Heather says, when Peter told them they won the prize she and her daughter had a big moment of celebration.
“We just freaked out when he told us, and then it was just chaos and excitement at that point. My daughter and I said, ‘We should be jumping around.’ So, then we jumped around.”
Peter says, he was in disbelief, rather “speechless” and pretty much just sat down for an hour.
The winnings…
Heather and Peter plan to use the money to support their family, travel and give back to their community.
Peter says money is no longer something they have to worry about.
They split the winning prize of $5 million with another ticket from the Western Canada Lottery Corporation.
The ticket was purchased at the Sobey’s in Cole Harbour.
