A Nova Scotia chip-wagon worker is headed for retirement after winning $2.5 million on a scratch ticket.
Leisa Coolen says she rarely buys scratch tickets, but Atlantic Lottery’s Multi-Millionaire scratch ticket caught her eye one day.
“I said, ‘What the heck? Give me one of those,’ and on my way out I told the owner that this better be a winner because it cost $30,” Coolen said in a news release from Atlantic Lottery.
Coolen scratched the ticket and quickly realized one of her numbers matched the lucky numbers. Then she scratched the prize box, which revealed she had won the top prize of $2.5 million.
Alone at her Hubbards home, Coolen says she paced the floor and stared at the ticket for about 20 minutes.
“I called my dad and told him but my boyfriend was out and I had to wait until he got home to tell him,” she said. “At first he didn’t believe me. Then he threw up.”
Coolen has spent the last decade working at Sheila’s Too, a local chip wagon. She plans to retire, but promised her boss she would find a replacement first.
In addition to retiring, she hopes to hire a landscaper to do some work in her front yard, would like to take a vacation to a place she’s never been, and plans to take her grandchildren to Disney World.
“And a pool,” Coolen added. “I have wanted a pool since I was 12.”
She purchased the ticket at Fox Point Market & Pizza in Hubbards. The retailer will receive a one per cent seller’s prize.
Atlantic Lottery says $2.5 million is the largest prize it has ever awarded on a scratch ticket.
