He's $302,485 richer, but he's not ready to retire just yet.
Northern B.C. firefighter Rocky Paolo won that jackpot after matching five consecutive icons on PlayNow.com's Chain Reactors, making him the latest big winner by the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC).
The Prince Rupert resident believes he's got "at least another five years" left in him despite the big payday on Sept. 24.
“I’ve never had less than two jobs at a time in my life,” said Paolo, who also operates a commercial cleaning business on the side.
“I’ve always said that if I didn’t like the job I wouldn’t be there, but I just love what I do. I love [being a firefighter] just as much as when I first started more than 25 years ago.”
In a news release today (Oct. 5), Paolo explained he came home to his wife while she was making lunch and decided to play Chain Reactors for a little bit.
“I was actually trying to play for the smaller $7,000 purse and I thought I had won a few free plays. So I was shocked to see it was more than that. Going back to work after that … that was the longest six hours of my life," he says.
“I felt dizzy, like I was going to faint. I even thought I was going to start crying.”
Paolo says he'll use the money to plan a big road trip across B.C. with the family, while also paying off some bills and investing it.
