By Kamloops This Week
He is Kamloops鈥� newest millionaire, but Darcy Hickey remains a bit perturbed that he was getting up and heading to work each morning for the past three and a half months.
The 51-year-old construction worker toiled under the hot sun and endured the smoky skies all summer, not realizing he was a million dollars richer.
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Hickey bought an $11 quick pick ticket for the July 6 Lotto Max draw and, as he normally does, tucked it away in his 鈥渓ottery envelope.鈥�
There it sat with other tickets as July rolled into August and August gave way to September and September welcomed October.
Only this past Monday 鈥� on Oct. 22, a full 109 days after the winning numbers were drawn 鈥� did Hickey decide to check the tickets in the lottery envelope.
He took them to the kiosk in Northills Centre, where he had bought the quick pick, and slid them into the self-check ticket machine.
鈥淚t said I had a winning ticket of a million dollars,鈥� Hickey said. 鈥淚 put it aside and checked a few more tickets. Then I checked it again and brought it to the clerk.鈥�
His numbers 鈥� 1, 20, 24, 30, 38, 42 and 47 鈥� matched all seven digits in one of the July 6 Lotto Max additional $1-million draws, which are added once the grand prize exceeds $50 million.
鈥淚 was really nervous,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had butterflies. I haven鈥檛 slept much.鈥�
He added it is far too soon to determine what he will do with the windfall, with retirement still up in the air.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 thought about that yet,鈥� he said when asked if he will continue to work.
Next up is a trip to China with his better half, where they will see the Great Wall. It is a trip that was booked well before Hickey realized he had struck it big.
With the kids now grown and on their own, Hickey said he has time to ponder the next steps in life, made easier by a winning lottery ticket.
DID YOU KNOW?
As the seller of the winning $1 million ticket, the operator of the Northills Centre kiosk is paid $2,000 by the BC Lottery Corporation, the maximum amount a retailer is paid for selling a winning ticket.
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