REGINA - Terry (Terance) Thorsteinson already knows how he wants to celebrate his recent $1 million windfall.
“I would like to take my million in cash and roll in it,” he laughed while claiming his prize from the Oct. 4 Lotto Max draw. Thorsteinson explained that he got his idea from a previous trip to Las Vegas where he and a friend did the same thing with a more modest $5,000 windfall.
The Regina resident is one of four Saskatchewan individuals and one of 19 in Western Canada to bring home a $1 million prize since Sept. 2 when MaxMillions started being offered on this jackpot.
Thorsteinson picked up his ticket from Lorne Drugs at 2255 14th Ave. in Regina a few hours before the draw.
A couple of days later, he returned to store and scanned his ticket using the self-checker. After seeing the number on the screen, he went right over to the cashier to confirm what he was seeing was true.
“When the cashier went crazy, I knew,” he recalled as he claimed his prize. “I think she was more excited than I was!”
Thorsteinson’s numbers — 7, 9, 14, 15, 26, 37 and 38 — exactly matched the numbers for one of the draw’s MaxMillions prizes.
After phoning his girlfriend to tell her the good news, Thorsteinson met up with his son at work, still shocked by what had happened.
“I handed him my ticket and said ‘I won $1 million,’” Thorsteinson recalled with a laugh.
He said his son was similarly shocked. “He looked at it and said it was amazing – that you always hear about people winning, but you never know them.”
Besides rolling in cash, Thorsteinson is still thinking of all the ways he can use his recent windfall.
“Maybe a new van or a hot tub for my sore back. Also, my girlfriend wants a combine for her farm up north,” he noted.
