A soon-to-be retired financial advisor living in Sidney is $55-million dollars richer after stepping forward as the biggest jackpot winner in Vancouver Island’s history.
BCLC and Lotto Max held a press conference on Tuesday, April 4th with William Scott Gurney on hand to answer questions and to give him his larger-than-life cheque.
Gurney bought the winning ticket on a whim at a Save-On-Foods customer service desk in Sidney on February 28th while out buying groceries for his family.
“I was sitting in my office, [the jackpot news] was all over the radio,” explained Gurney.
“I called my assistant to my office, and she initially read the number on my phone as $55,000 — she then realized it said $55 million and we couldn’t do anything all day after.”
“I just stared at the ticket,” recalled Gurney.
After realizing what he had, Gurney locked the winning ticket away in a drawer that had a lock on it at his desk while he waited to come forward as the jackpot winner — knowing it would change life as he knew it.
“It’s a great dream,” Gurney said when asked how it felt to win. “I’ve been lucky enough that it happened to me.”
“It’s the dream, even one million or a couple million. I never dreamed of 55.”
At the conference, Gurney said he doesn’t quite know what’s next for him and his family. Being a financial advisor, he is not going to do anything too hasty with the money. He is just focussed on getting through tax season and helping his clients.
After tax season, Gurney takes an annual, month-long trip in which he plans on thinking about how to best use the money.
That being said, he does dream of a sea-side retirement home somewhere on Vancouver Island and having an overseas property to use as a home base while he and his family travel.
Gurney has confirmed, this tax season will be his last.
What would you do with $55-million? Let us know in the comments!
