Ont. lotto winner plans to reunite with mother
An Ontario lotto winner intends to use his big winnings to visit his mother, after being apart for over a decade.
Sheba Sheba of Woodbridge, Ont. learned he won the $12-million 6/49 pot after grabbing a coffee at a convenience store on Sunday. While checking his ticket, Sheba didn’t believe what he saw, and assumed it was because he wasn’t wearing his glasses. When he brought it to the counter to be validated, his winnings were confirmed.
“[The retailer] said, ‘You’re a big winner!’” Sheba told CTV News. “I was so excited that I started screaming too.”
He then ran home and woke up his family to share the good news.
The newly minted millionaire, who’s originally from Iraq, first intends to visit his mother in Lebanon. Health issues and financial challenges have prevented him from seeing her for the last 11 years.
“She is a wonderful woman and I have missed her very much,” he said. “Seeing her again is at the top of my wish list.”
Other bucket list items Sheba intends to cross off include buying his newlywed daughter and her husband their first home, helping his son set up a barbershop and paying off his youngest daughter’s education.
