Keith Spulnick of Fraserwood, Manitoba won $27.5 million on the May 13 Lotto 6/49 draw. (WCLC / HANDOUT)
WINNIPEG — A Fraserwood man is Manitoba’s newest millionaire after claiming a $27.5 million jackpot on Monday.
Keith Spulnick couldn’t believe it when he checked the numbers of his Lotto 6/49 ticket the morning after the May 12 draw.
“I just thought ‘it can’t be’ — the winning numbers look a lot like my numbers,” Spulnick said in a release.
Spulnick checked his ticket multiple times to be sure and then tended to some chores before sitting his wife down to tell her the good news.
“She didn’t believe me, asked ‘are you sure that’s not 27,000?’ And I said ‘no, that’s a lot of commas.’ It was pretty surreal for us.”
Having recently come out on the other side of some health problems that left him unable to work as expenses mounted, the windfall couldn’t have come at a better time.
“By the time I physically got better, I didn’t have a dime to my name. We have been pulling ourselves out slowly, but it’s taken a long time. This is just fantastic,” he recalled.
“I have a picture of me with my last five bucks — that was all I had left then. I’m going to frame that,” he chuckled.
Spulnick’s ticket matched all six winning numbers for the draw – 30, 35, 39, 42, 46, and 48 – to bring home the jackpot of $27,505,450.30. He picked up his ticket the afternoon of the draw at Riverton Shop Easy at 65 Main Street in Riverton, selecting his numbers at random.
The couple plans on seeking financial advice, paying off debt and have already purchased a new vehicle and trailer.
Spulnick says despite the new vehicles, which they will use to travel once safe to do so, he will keep his old truck.
“I’m going to fix it up the old reliable one as well. It’s been good to me!”
Spulnick added he plans on retiring from both work and playing the lottery.
“I don’t need anything else. I’m not a ‘high lifestyle’ guy, I want to remain me — this is all we need. It’s the best thing that ever happened in my life. I never thought I would get this.”
The win is the largest Lotto 6/49 jackpot in Manitoba’s history and the third-largest lottery jackpot awarded in the province overall.
