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| Justin is all smiles as he receives a mock copy of his historic lottery win |
A 35-year-old Filipino migrant could not help but shed tears as he was awarded the CA$80 million (or Php3.19 billion) he won in Lotto Max jackpot, the biggest lottery prize ever won by an individual in Canada.
Justin Simporios, who is married and has a daughter,
said he immediately resigned from his job at a logistics company after
realizing he hit the jackpot.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
“I’m an
immigrant. I came from a poor country…With this amount of money, I will be able
to spend more time with my daughter, with my wife, with my family…,” a tearful
Simporios said at a media conference, where he was handed a symbolic check for
the jackpot prize.
Simporios who has lived in Surrey, British Columbia
for four years, bought the winning ticket for CA$12 at Central City Walmart last
Friday, while buying buns and cheese for the burgers that he and his family had
for dinner that day.
At 10:30 p.m., he decided to check the winning
numbers in the lottery. He sat on the bed with a flashlight on, to avoid waking
his daughter who was already sleeping.
When he saw he had won the jackpot, he said he screamed, making his wife angry, saying he had woken up their daughter.
“I was like, babe,
we don’t have to work anymore, this is life-changing. And then I scanned it and
yeah, we can’t believe it was, it was a dream, right?”
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| Justin is unable to hold back tears as he reflects on his life-changing win |
Simporios was the
sole winner of the jackpot for the May 9, 2025 draw, betting on the numbers 06-10-16-17-30-38-48
He said he plans
to seek a financial consultant “right away”, then buy his dream house.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
He also plans to spend time with his
family, pay off his sister’s medical debt, help his mother retire early, and
give back to his community in Surrey, the second biggest city in B.C. and home
to one of the biggest Filipino communities in Canada.
“I’ve struggled before and needed help. Even
if I can give an ounce of happiness, I want to help where we can. This feels
like a dream,” said Simporios.
