A LOTTERY player has claimed a $68 million prize on the same week he marked his birthday.
Noel Patricio, of Toronto, Canada, has claimed the eye-watering prize but says that he still wants to work despite his newfound wealth.
He revealed that he didn’t share news of his big win with colleagues before collecting the sum, per Daily Hive.
“My colleagues would talk about the winning ticket sold in Toronto. I would stay quiet. It was too unbelievable to say, ‘It’s me,’” he said.
He bought the Lotto 6/49 ticket while on a work break and checked the numbers on his lottery app.
Patricio, who plays the game often, said he thought he had won $68,000 rather than $68 million.
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He called his sister and she urged him to count the number of zeroes.
“She asked me to count the zeroes and I told her there were six of them,” he recalled.
Patricio didn’t believe he had won big on the lotto and checked his ticket several times when he went to the bathroom.
“All I could think of was, is this a joke? Is this real?” he said.
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He has collected the prize that he won on the draw dating back to September 27.
Patricio has shared how he wants to spend his new fortune.
He wants to take his family on a vacation to Italy, watch the tennis ace Rafael Nadal live in action, and renovate his home.
Patricio also revealed that he will keep working his two jobs – despite winning the whopping amount.
Meanwhile, The U.S. Sun reported how one lottery player, from Michigan, thought he was having a heart attack when he realized he had won big.
The gambler, who hasn’t been named, won $1 million and took home $693,000.
“I went to my mom’s house to show her the ticket and when I walked in the door, she told me to sit down and took my blood pressure because I was bright red and shaking,” he told lotto bosses.
He said that his win felt like a dream.
Earlier this month, New Yorker Wayne Murray scooped another $10 million prize on the lottery – a year after taking home his first big prize.
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