Woman Is Thrilled To Win $40K In Lottery, Learns It’s Actually $40M
It would be pretty awesome to win $40,000 in the lottery, right? Then imagine finding out that you actually won $40,000,000.
Maria Carreiro, a 51-year-old Toronto grandmother and former factory worker, was happy enough just thinking she had won 1/1000th of Friday’s $40 million Lotto Max jackpot. At the news conference at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission office, Carreiro said that she thought she had won $40,000 … later she discovered that she had actually won $40,000,000.
She recalled what happened at the conference:
“When I went to the machine I just see 40 because I’d never won this amount of money. I told [the clerk] can you check this for me please? He checks it. He doesn’t even know himself and he’s the store owner. I said ‘Never mind, I’ll go home.’
“I went home and I told my daughter, ‘Oh I won $40,000.’ She’s jumping off the bed too and then she calls her [sister] and says, ‘Mommy won $40,000.’
Though the family was happy enough, Carreiro’s daughter checked the numbers on the computer, and discovered that her mother had actually become a millionaire.
“She flew up the stairs. I run up the stairs, then I run down the stairs. She went on the computer and she checked the computer and she goes ‘Mommy, You’re $40-million richer.’ I’m like ‘No way, no way.’
She went back to the store (on foot) to check the numbers, confirming the good news for herself.
“And then I ran back up the street, back home and then I go, I need a glass of water.’ Let me go sit down and relax.”
But after that, Carreiro’s husband knew exactly what to do.
“On Monday, he told [his boss] ‘I quit!'”
Carreiro’s secret? She just asked for a quick pick ticket. She has her set of numbers, like almost every lottery hopeful, but she chose to let fate determine her chances.
She said that she plans on sharing her money with her three children and five grandchildren, purchasing a new home for herself and one for her daughter, getting some new clothes, and going on a Hawaii honeymoon. In the short term? Dinner with her family at the Mandarin All-You-Can-Eat Buffet.
