Esquimalt senior Eufracio Partosa won more than $2 million in the B.C. lottery last week, almost exactly a year after two Victoria friends split the same amount in a jackpot.
Partosa, 73, matched all six numbers on the Sept. 11 BC/49 draw, B.C. Lottery Corp. said. He checked his numbers that evening, which he always picks randomly, and could hardly sleep before going into the Country Grocer in Esquimalt the next morning. He and his wife are regular lottery players at their neighbourhood store.
“They come in here all the time. They’re a very nice, retired couple,” said Tracy Samis, a manager at Country Grocer. She was there when the Partosas came in to validate their winning ticket.
When a jackpot-winning ticket is validated, the electronic lottery-ticket machine sounds alarms and systems shut down for security reasons, she said.
“People were cheering and clapping. There were a few high-fives,” she said, adding the store sold a $20,000-winning ticket a few months ago as well.
“I saw all the numbers come up when I checked the ticket,” Partosa told the lottery corporation. “It’s such an unbelievable feeling, I was lucky I didn’t have a heart attack.”
He plans to use the money to buy a new car, house and spend more time with his family.
Last September, two Victoria friends split another $2-million jackpot bought at a neighbourhood store. Shipyard workers Jimmy Sivertson and John Boyd won the Sept. 8, 2012, BC/49 draw after playing the lottery together for 28 years.
