A retired Vancouver Island teacher has plans to buy new sails for a sailboat he’s building after winning a whopping $675,000 scratch-and-win grand prize on Thursday.
Patrick Shannon, from Nanoose Bay, was shocked to find he had won the Set for Life jackpot after purchasing a scratch and win ticket on a whim when he was filling up on gas.
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He waited to scratch the winning ticket until he got home and was sitting at the family dinner table.
“We were all a little confused at first,” Shannon told the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC).
“We thought that it couldn’t be real … We had to go to the local grocery store to have the retailer scan the ticket just to be sure.”
Now, Shannon plans on using the money to help purchase sails for a boat he’s been building with his own two hands.
“Originally I was going to buy a sewing machine and teach myself to sew the sails together, but now I won’t have to,” he said.
Besides sailing around the Gulf Islands aboard his self-made ship, Shannon plans to use the money to help provide a better life for his family.
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