A Canadian couple claimed a winning lottery ticket days before the deadline due to a stroke of luck.
Nicole Pedneault and Roger Larocque bought the Loto-Quebec ticket on Valentine’s Day last year and forgot about it. Then Ms Pedneault came across the ticket last weekend as she was going through a book she had brought back from holiday.
Their claim on the prize would have expired Friday. The Quebec couple claimed the C$1m ($748,000; £572,000) grand prize in Montreal.
The ticket draw took place 5 April 2018 and winners have a year to claim the prize. Ms Pedneault had been searching through souvenirs the couple had bought during a trip to Japan to help her grandson with a school project. That was when she noticed the lotto ticket tucked away in the pages of a book they had purchased.
“If my grandson hadn’t asked to borrow those items for his show-and-tell presentation, I would never have found the ticket on time,” she said.
She said the couple are also pleased they decided to buy the lotto ticket as a Valentine’s Day gift instead of “flowers or chocolate”. They plan to use the money to treat their five sons and their grandchildren but said they had not yet told their families about the windfall.
Mr Laroque is also considering buying a new car. He said they plan to treat themselves “to a poutine with a double helping of gravy and cheese curds at the restaurant” for dinner in celebration.
