What started as a breakfast outing ended with a St. Thomas couple discovering that they were $26 million richer.
Gerry Phillips, a retired electronic technician, and Helen Phillips, who has been a nurse for 46 years, recently discovered that they had won the jackpot prize from the August 6 LOTTO MAX draw.
“Helen worked an overnight nursing shift, so I decided to take a couple of the grandchildren out for breakfast,” Gerry said in a news release. “I passed an OLG ticket checker, which reminded me that I had a ticket in my pocket. When I saw [that] all numbers on the ticket checker, my brain did not register it was $26 million – I thought it was $260,000.”
Gerry said he double-checked the ticket again with the ticket checker and then once more with the OLG Lottery App just to make sure. The couple decided to keep the win very low-key until it was official and travelled to London to validate the ticket at a retailer and talk to OLG about collecting their prize money.
“I am definitely retiring,” said Helen. “Our three children and seven grandchildren will share in this good fortune. But we are taking the next three to six months to carefully consider what exactly to do with the money.”
The couple has hired advisors to help with managing the massive windfall and said they intend to take a “bucket-list” vacation, such as a rip to the west coast or a cruise.
The winning ticket was purchased at Shoppers Drug Mart on First Avenue in St. Thomas
