A Bonnyville local won $17 million dollars on her September 12 LOTTO MAX ticket.
Vicki Barrett was having a calm conversation with her husband when all of a sudden she checked her ticket.
“Well, I started freaking out and he didn’t know what was happening so he started freaking out. It was a crazy and immediate rush of adrenaline,” she continued. “I couldn’t believe it!”
Barrett bought her $21 ticket from the Conklin Corner at 104 Northland Drive in Conklin, AB. When asked about the first words she uttered after learning the winning ticket was in her hand she could not repeat it.
“I don’t think I should put that many curse words out into the world again, happy as they were.”
No specific plans have been made for the winnings but Barrett says if she ever won the lottery, she would take care of the family
“We’ll make sure everyone has what they need… and then some. It’s completely life-changing to win this much money. We have to make sure we do good things and do it right.”
Barrett joins a group of 22 Albertans who have won jackpot prizes so far this year, and it’s the biggest lottery prize ever awarded to a Bonnyville resident. Before the $17 million prize, the next highest was a $1 million LOTTO MAX prize, won in 2015.