It’s been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
It was Kyle Murray’s first time buying a lottery ticket in Canada, Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. said in a news release Monday.
Jennifer Stuart-Flynn and Kyle Murray of Iroquois Falls won the $70 million jackpot in the Aug. 20, 2024 Lotto Max draw. (OLG)
He and his wife, Jennifer Stuart-Flynn, live in Iroquois Falls and had just returned home from the Toronto hospital where their baby was born after a high-risk pregnancy.
“Kyle was waiting at the Timmins airport to pick up his mother, who was coming to help with the newborn,” OLG said.
“That’s when Jennifer texted Kyle, asking him to purchase a Lotto Max ticket after seeing on social media that the jackpot was at $70 million.”
The morning after the draw, Stuart-Flynn, 33, said she checked the ticket with the lottery app on her phone after hearing the ticket was sold in their region.
“I … heard the ‘Winner/Gagnant’ win tone,” she said.
“I was in shock and not processing what was happening, so I shut down the OLG App and reopened it. I checked the ticket again and heard the same thing. That’s when I called out to Kyle.”
Not regular lottery players, Stuart-Flynn said she has maybe bought five or six tickets in her life.
Murray, 39, said when he saw ‘$70 million winner,’ he felt light-headed.
“Everything for us has seemed to come in threes, the good, the bad and this was the most positive threes from the start, where we had our newborn to my husband’s promotion and now, winning the lottery, I am so grateful,” his wife said in an interview with OLG.
To celebrate, the couple took their kids and Murray’s mom out to eat at a local restaurant.
“We wanted to shout the news, but we knew that in our small town, this type of news would travel very fast. We had to be careful not to spill the beans throughout the entire dinner,” Stuart-Flynn said.
When the couple picked up their winnings at the Toronto prize centre, Murray told officials the last few years have been a struggle for his family.
“Everything we did was to make a better life for the kids,” he said.
Stuart-Flynn said realizing that her kids “are going to have a much better life than I had,” makes her emotional.
“They are set and won’t have to wonder or worry about anything anymore,” she said.
One of the things they are going to do with the money is buy her sister a house.
“I love her and she is the greatest person in the world and she deserves it,” Stuart-Flynn said.
Murray said he wants to buy land and build a “little farm.”
He bought the winning ticket at the Esso gas station on Algonquin Boulevard in Timmins.
“Now, if they (an OLG retailer) happen to win or happened to redeem a big prize like a lot of max jackpot prize, they do get a little bump in commission between $2,000 and $3,000, depending on how many times the jackpot has rolled,” said OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti.
OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti speaks with CTV News on September 16, 2024. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News Northern Ontario)
“There’s a formulation for that, though, too. But regardless, if they sell these big jackpot winning tickets or not, it’s still getting 8% commission overall and to share in $330 million in commissions is quite good.”
This was the sixth consective jackpot won in Ontario this year.
Recently, the OLG decided to increase the Lotto Max jackpot to $80 million – with last Friday’s jackpot reaching $75 million for the first time not won Tuesday’s draw will set a new record.
With files from CTVNorthernOntario.ca journalist Lydia Chubak