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Kelowna Lotto winner

David McLeod buys winning ticket on a whim while in Dawson Creek.
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David McLeod is the latest Lotto 6/49 instant million dollar winner.

It was a special $1 million birthday present delivered to Kelowna resident David McLeod.

McLeod bought a winning Lotto 6/49 ticket for the May 17 draw, which was on his birthday.

“It was a great birthday present,” McLeod conceded.

He was visiting his mom in Dawson Creek when he stopped at a Safeway Gas Bar in the northern B.C. community to fuel up.

“I had $20 in my pocket so I decided to buy a ticket in the spur of the moment,” McLeod recalled.

“When I heard that someone had won the $1 million, I checked my ticket and it was me. I texted the picture of the validation slip to my wife to confirm what I was seeing.”

McLeod, who is a KFC fast food operator in Kelowna, picked up his winnings Monday at the Lotto headquarters in Kamloops, and has some initial ideas about what to do with the money.

He plans to pay off his mortgage and set aside some money to pay for his two daughters to pursue their post-secondary education plans.

A member of the Ogopogo Rotary Club, McLeod said he also wants to make a donation to Rotary International’s charitable initiatives.

“Beyond that we’ll see where we go from there,” he said. “It’s a little worrisome in that I don’t want to be one of those people who have money one minute and it’s gone the next.”

But having watched others step forward to claim significant winnings, McLeod admitted it “feels pretty good” to be called into the lottery winner’s circle.

“It’s great but it’s a little hard to believe as well,” he said.



Barry Gerding

About the Author: Barry Gerding

Senior regional reporter for Black Press Media in the Okanagan. I have been a journalist in the B.C. community newspaper field for 37 years...
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