A Northern Ontario couple became millionaires overnight after winning a Thunder Bay hospital’s 50/50 draw.
Natalie Bigras and her husband Clem won the $6,436,355 grand prize in the Thunder Bay 50/50 draw for December.
President and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation Glenn Craig broke the news in a phone call to the couple from Hanmer, approximately 20 km north of Sudbury.
“I think this is a call that’s going to change your lives,” Craig told them Friday before revealing the big news, the lottery said in a news release.
“Stop it, oh my God, I’m shaking like a leaf,” she said through tears.
“So am I,” Craig replied.
The winnings set a record as the largest for a hospital 50/50 draw in all of Canada, the lottery said. The draw shattered its previous high of nearly $4 million a year ago.
“We just dropped off our son at the airport because he’s going back to Calgary, we haven’t seen him in six years,” she said. “This is absolutely going to change everything.”
The couple was asked about their inspiration to buy tickets for the draw.
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“Seeing what the hospital does with the 50/50 money, it goes back to the hospital,” they said. “When you live in these rural areas up north, so many people have to go south to get care. Now, they’re getting things done there.”
Natalie also spoke about losing her father this past summer.
“In July, I lost my dad and took care of him at home,” she said. “I’ve been off work since May to be with him his last three months of his life, and I had hospice care at home. I don’t regret any of it.
“I’m so grateful, so overwhelmed. My heart is full today.”
Proceeds from the monthly 50/50 draws help the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre purchase the highest priority equipment needs of the hospital and other health centres across Northwestern Ontario.
Since its inception, the lottery has awarded more than $50 million in prizes.