Nanaimo’s Maria Edmond is B.C.'s newest millionaire after claiming $1 million on a June Lotto Max draw. (BCLC)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

big winner

Nanaimo winner comes forward after $500k Lotto Max win

Jul 9, 2021 | 12:04 PM

NANAIMO — The number of big lotto winners in Nanaimo continues to climb.

Ria Edmond won a $500,000 in the June 15 Lotto Max draw, splitting a $1 million Maxmillion prize with a winner in Ontario during the recent run of record-breaking jackpots.

Edmond told NanaimoNewsNOW she used the BCLC app on her phone to scan her ticket.

“I’m an early riser so it was about 5:45 a.m., I scanned it and it showed I’d won $500,000. I thought the app was broken so I scanned it again and it still said the same thing so I was kind of convinced by that time.”

Edmond and her husband of 32 years don’t have any children and are taking a sensible approach to the unexpected windfall.

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They’re planning to bank most of the winnings and save it for their retirement. Edmond noted some of the money will be used to purchase a new RV to go camping in and a truck.

Edmond had only recently played Lotto Max after mainly purchasing tickets for the BC 649 draws. She doesn’t consider herself an overly lucky person.

“I win a dollar or $10 on Lotto 649. Where I used to work I had a little lottery and the most I won was about $1,500 at that time, but that’s not in a regular basis, it’s a one-time shot in all these years.”

Her winning ticket was bought at Nanaimo North Town Centre with Quick Pick numbers.

She’s at least the 19th winner of a prize over $500,000 with a ticket from the Nanaimo area since 2012.

Note: An earlier version of this story stated Edmond won $1 million, which was based on a BCLC release. BCLC have since corrected their release to reflect Edmond splitting the prize.

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