Mother and daughter, Theresa Worthington of Sorrento, and Alexa of Salmon Arm were visited by lady luck when a random stop to buy some liquorice resulted in an unexpected windfall.
The pair, who are both hospital workers decided to check their lottery ticket at Orchard Park Mall, in the same store they stopped at to satisfy their sweet tooth. The ticket ended up displaying five matching numbers for the Feb. 8 Daily Grand draw, handing them the secondary prize of $500,000.
Theresa plays the lottery often with her daughter and they have always used the quick-pick option instead of choosing their own numbers. Theresa recalled how she had tried to scan the ticket on a self-check machine, but when the prize amount didn’t reflect, she had a store clerk check it for them.
“We couldn’t believe it and still don’t really believe it yet,” said Theresa whose husband was the first person she shared the news with.
“He thought I was lying at first. Then he noticed I was shaking really bad, so he realized it must be real. To calm down, I decided to bake some cookies for the dogs, and then some for us to enjoy with milk to celebrate,” she said.
“I’m still numb, it’s so exciting, it’s wonderful!” added her daughter, Alexa.
The Worthingtons are plotting a trip to Australia once they can travel safely and Theresa has her sights set on a new kitchen table.
