PRINCE ALBERT — Diane Pugh was seeing zeroes when she scanned her Western Max ticket and saw the number one followed by many zeroes – six to be exact – though at first, she only saw five.
The Prince Albert local won $1 million on the May 7 draw.
“It’s hard to count all of those zeroes on the screen,” she laughed while claiming her prize. “I thought it was $100,000, so I took it to the cashier. He scanned the ticket and asked: ‘Do you know what you won?’”
“I couldn’t believe it!”
Talk about good timing! Pugh learned she had won her prize just before taking her husband’s truck to the shop for some expensive maintenance work.
“My husband was waiting for me in the car,” she explained. “I got in and told him not to bother taking his truck to the shop. We’re going to buy a new one!”
Pugh said the best part about her win is the feeling it gave her.
“It was a shock at first, but now it just feels like a weight has lifted off my shoulders,” she said. “We don’t have to think twice about our finances now!”
The new winner said she hopes to travel to Hawaii after buying a new-to-them vehicle and speaking with a financial advisor.
Pugh purchased her winning Western Max ticket at the Canadian Tire Gas+ store at 290 Marquis Rd. W in Prince Albert. She won by matching all seven numbers on one of the 14 additional Western Max $1 million prize draws — 1, 3, 28, 43, 44, 45 and 48.
Sask Lotteries is celebrating 50 years as the main fundraiser for more than 12,000 sport, culture and recreation groups in communities across the province! Since 1974, through an agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan, lottery sales in Saskatchewan have been used to provide more than $1.4 billion to support athletes from the grassroots level to the international stage, connect youth to artistic experiences, help residents experience the beauty of the parks that cover the province and so much more. Learn about games, jackpots, winning numbers and more at sasklotteries.ca. 
— Submitted by Sask Lotteries