Tim and Kendolyn Elliott of Medicine Hat claimed their Lotto 6/49 prize worth $24.9 million from the January 21 draw on Feb. 3, 2012. (Handout)

CALGARY — Stopping to get gas and check his lottery tickets while on a work-related course up north, Tim Elliott suddenly found himself with 24.9 million reasons to rush home.

Elliott was the lone winner of the Jan. 21 Lotto 6/49 draw.

A rig manager for Precision Drilling, the 44-year-old from Medicine Hat, Alta., was in Nisku -- just south of Edmonton -- on Tuesday when he stopped at a local gas station to fill up and use the self-serve lotto ticket checker to scan his numbers -- 9, 11, 31, 34, 48 and 49.

And as might be expected, Elliott said he couldn’t quite believe his luck at first.

“All these damn numbers came up and I didn’t realized how much it was,” he said.

“I thought maybe $2.4 million, maybe $240,000, I didn’t realize it was $24 million.

“I checked it again, and wow, then I got the (employee) to check it and she freaked right out.”

After racing back to his hotel, Elliott called his wife, Kendolyn, who didn’t believe him at first, especially since he’s pranked her about winning the lottery before.

“I said, ‘No, I’m serious,’ and I think she kind of believed me.”

The pair then called their own parents, who also reacted to the news somewhat skeptically.

“I phoned my dad and he was the same thing, he didn’t believe me,” said Elliott.

“You could tell in his voice it was, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever kid, you’re not getting one over on your old man,’ kind of deal.”

They were eventually able to convince family members the win was real.

Now they’re planning their future.

“We’re going to buy a winter home down south and a summer home up here somewhere, probably the Okanagan area,” said Elliott.

“We’re taking off right away, just to get away from the craziness.

“Try to figure out what the heck to do with my life now, there’s a lot of big decisions.”

The most important of those plans, said Elliott, will involve “helping family,” and even though he quit his job soon after hitting the jackpot, he could see himself one day going back.

“Upper management called and said to me, ‘Your knowledge and experience is worth something to us,’” he said.

“I really love my job so wage wouldn’t be important for me, let’s say a year from now or maybe two I’m bored and want to get back into it.”

There was some earlier speculation it was a Calgarian who had won the giant jackpot as Elliott bought his ticket on one of his weekly trips to the city to get parts.