Surrey woman Michelle De Roma is having a really good day today.
But she won’t be in Surrey for long.
De Roma was in Vancouver Friday afternoon to pick up her cheque for a whopping $39.5 million after matching all seven numbers on the Dec. 28, 2018 Lotto Max draw on a ticket bought at Tsawwessen Mills. She said she was doing some Boxing Day shopping that day.
The big hand-over was at 1 p.m. at the BCLC (B.C. Lottery Corporation) Vancouver office.
“We are planning to move out of Surrey, but we don’t know where yet.”
De Roma is married and has three children. She said she waited to claim her prize because she wanted to enjoy the Christmas holidays with her family.
She wants to get a “nice house for the kids,” she said.
“I want to travel — everybody wants to travel.”
First on the list is a trip with her mom to see St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
De Roma said she’s also celebrating her husband’s birthday.
“It’s the perfect gift,” she said of her mega-win. “I’ll just give him the cheque — with a kiss.”
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Indeed, local lottery ticket buyers have fared well over the years.
In May 2013, Surrey resident Harry Black, 66, won $31.6 million on the 6/49. He scored a double win by buying two lottery tickets with the same numbers he’d been playing for 35 years. And in 2010, an $11 Lotto Max ticket bought in Fleetwood landed Surrey couple Derek and Francis $25 million, which at that time was a record-setting lottery prize win in B.C.
“We’ve had $50 million before,” said BCLC spokesman Evan Kelly.
Meantime, somebody has got to be wearing a long face today after running out the clock on a $1 million 6/49 prize ticket that was sold in Vancouver. Whoever bought that ticket didn’t make the 4:30 p.m. Jan. 3 deadline to collect.
“Fifty-two weeks and the clock ran out,” Kelly said.
With files from Lauren Collins
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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