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OTTAWA -- Jacques Nadon had no idea a $16.6-million 6/49 ticket was burning a hole in his pocket as he watched the Celebration 2005 million-dollar lottery broadcast from the Lac Leamy Casino Sunday night. In fact, it wasn't until Monday -- two days after the Lotto 6/49 draw -- that the Gatineau retiree discovered he was a mega-millionaire.
Using his thumb to conceal the digits, he uncovered each winning number one by one.
"We won the jackpot, Denise! We won $16 million," Nadon screamed to his wife.
The lone winner of the Saturday draw, Nadon claimed a total of $16,603,041. If those loonies were laid end to end, they would stretch over 400 km, almost the road distance from Ottawa to Toronto.
Nadon, who's been retired for the past 11 years, said he'd be sharing his winnings with his wife and three children Guy, Josee and Jean.
The children -- an electrician, a teacher and public servant -- will each take home $2 million.
Nadon and his wife, however, still weren't sure what they'd do with their windfall considering the enormity of the sum.
"We haven't had time to think about it yet," Nadon told Radio Canada.
STORE CASHES IN
The lucky Quick Pick was purchased at the Maloney Blvd. Metro supermarket Alimentation J.St-Pierre. As retailer for the winning ticket, the store will receive a 1% commission worth $166,030.
Store co-owner Jean St-Pierre told Radio-Canada this was the supermarket's first win in 25 years.
Nadon's win was the biggest lottery jackpot in the region in recent memory -- probably the biggest ever in the area.
Among other recent lucky local lottery winners, Hilde Schwandt of Nepean won $1 million in a Lotto 6/49 draw in July 2003. Doculink International colleagues Abdirahman Elmi, Mark Zialcita, Renato Villena, Antonio Ignalig and Delfin Marquez split a $250,000 winning Encore ticket in December 2002. Said Tabouche of Ottawa won $250,000 in a July 2002 Encore jackpot.