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Ontario's new Lotto Max $50,000,000 jackpot winners have a cautionary tale about the golden ticket

An Ontario couple's $50 million lottery win is cautionary tale, don't leave your lottery tickets in your car.

Chad and Christa Breyer from Tavistock, Ont., won the Lotto Max jackpot from the March 16 draw, but unknowingly drove around with the winning ticket in their car for a week. The winning ticket was purchased at the Canadian Tire Gas Bar on Ontario Street in Stratford, Ont.

"I bought the Lotto Max ticket on Sunday for the Tuesday, March 16 draw and put it in the cupholder of my car as I usually do, and went about my business – going to work or running errands – never locking my car," Chad said. "I even went out and bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket for Saturday’s draw with the winning Lotto Max ticket still in my car!"

Christa, a 44-year-old shift supervisor in the food industry, kept bugging her husband to bring the Lotto Max ticket inside and when she finally got around to checking it on the OLG Lottery App, she was "trembling" when she saw $50,000,000 pop up on the screen. The 41-year-old father of two then raced to a convenience store to have the ticket checked by the retailer.

"I was so excited I grabbed the ticket and the receipt and ran out of the store and went back home," Chad said. “I didn’t know I had to stay to talk to the OLG representative who called the store a few moments later, but I eventually went back and spoke to OLG about the next steps in collecting this incredible prize."

Chad and Christa Breyer $50 million Lotto Max win (OLG)
Chad and Christa Breyer $50 million Lotto Max win (OLG)

The couple are regular lottery players and when they were presented with their winning cheque, Chad got emotional sharing his father’s reaction.

"He told me it couldn’t have happened to a better man," he said. "That I’ve worked hard all my life and now it’s paid off."

Both Chad and Christa actually went to work they day they found out they won $50 million.

"I have a few projects that I need to finish first before I think of possibly retiring – I can’t leave my boss and colleagues without completing my obligations first," Chad, who works in automotive repair and restoration said.

While they're both still working, the couple plans to purchase a new home with "a big piece of property" for their family and a couple new vehicles, specifically "a truck and an all-wheel drive SUV that performs well in our winters."

They also want to donate to charities and share their winnings with family members. Christa, in particular, can't wait to travel when it is safe to do so.

"I want to return to California," she said. "We went there for our honeymoon many years ago and have been saving airline loyalty points in the hopes of going back but now we can travel there in style!”