Tammy Manning won’t soon forget the day she won $13 million. The McBride resident is having March 19, 2021, the Lotto Max draw date that made her a multimillionaire, permanently etched onto her arm by her son, a tattoo artist.
“I told my son I won while he was in the middle of doing a tattoo,” Manning recalled. “He said ‘there’s no way mom – no you didn’t!'”
Manning purchased the ticket from McBride Husky/Esso in a $20 Lotto Max pack and selected her numbers using the Quick Pick option. The McBride resident purchased the only ticket across Canada to match all seven numbers during the mid-March draw.
“I went to the Husky that I always go to and the retailer knows who I am. I checked the ticket on the self-checker and suddenly the amount appeared across the screen. All I said was ‘No!’ I just didn’t believe it and kept saying ‘No!’ to myself. I had to have the retailer check the ticket on his machine.”
Amber Bhaskar, the lottery retailer at the McBride Husky/Esso, was there when she scanned her winning ticket.
“When Tammy validated her ticket… she was about to fall down,” Bhaskar recalled of the day he and his staff realized Manning had purchased the jackpot-winning ticket at his store. “She’s a loyal customer since we moved here – it’s really happy to see somebody winning from the local town.”
Manning has a few ideas about how she plans to use her mind-boggling prize. Her first priority is paying off her house, and next perhaps purchasing a property in the Caribbean along with a sailboat for her and her partner to enjoy. She also plans to gift some to family, the part of winning that means the most to her.
“It feels so good that I’m able to help and do something good with it,” she added. “This will change my life and it means I can retire and can help those close to me.”
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