Murray Wallace thought he may have been the target of a prank when he discovered he’d won $675,000.
The Salmon Arm resident was surprised to learn his Set for Life lottery win was legit.
“My first thought was, ‘Is this a joke?’” said Wallace in a March 13 BC Lottery Corporation media release. “I said, ‘where are the cameras?’ I thought someone had to be pranking me because I am a big prankster myself and prank all of my friends and family.”
Wallace, a long-haul trucker, was travelling through Kamloops when he opted to purchase a Set for Life ticket from the BVD Truck Stop on Kokanee Way. He was at Sutherland’s Bakery in Enderby when he decided to validate his ticket.
“I scanned it on the self-checker and then it began flashing ‘winner’ so I started freaking out,” said Wallace. “At that point, people started gathering around and I wasn’t sure how much I’d won yet.”
When he learned the prize amount, the first person he told was his spouse.
“She thought it was another one of my pranks and even hung the phone up on me twice,” said Wallace. “Then, she came inside the store and once she saw my face she believed me and we just hugged. It was amazing.”
The Salmon Arm resident plans to have a big pig roast with family and friends to celebrate and looks forward to returning to his birthplace of Scotland to see family, thanks to his prize.
On how it feels to win?
“Absolutely surreal, emotional and euphoric,” he said.
Read more: Salmon Arm man at a loss for words after winning $50,000 on crossword ticket
Read more: Salmon Arm man $75,000 richer after lottery win
lachlan@saobserver.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Sign up for our newsletter to get Salmon Arm stories in your inbox every morning.
