Alberni Valley Times
One morning last week, Erika Loiselle picked up the office phone at Alberni Industrial Marine.
It was a friend of hers on the line. “Remember that $1,500 I leant you?” she began, “you don’t have to pay me back. I just bought you your car . . . I love you, too, bye.”
Before that phone call, Loiselle, along with co-workers Julie Pike and Elsie Crosby, learned that they had won $1 million from the Lotto 6/49 guaranteed prize draw.
They will split the prize three ways, taking home $333,333.33 a piece.
The three women knew someone in the Alberni Valley had won the $1 million a day earlier but none of them expected it to be them. Loiselle was in Courtenay so, on her way to work the next morning she stopped by 7-Eleven for coffee, and scanned the group’s ticket. The screen froze up then flashed: “$1 MILLION WINNER.”
“My legs went crazy,” Loiselle said. “I hit the floor. My purse was flying everywhere, a guy was picking my stuff up off the floor and I was numb. I’m on the phone with the lotto people trying to figure everything out and I couldn’t even hold the phone straight.”
“I’m going to Thailand. My daughter and I were going to go at Christmas but we’re going to go a lot sooner now. Oh, and I’m going to get my 4x4!” Crosby said.
