Northern B.C. resident Margaret Gooding has been playing a combination of her own and family members’ birthdays on the BC/49 for over two decades, and on May 21 it paid off with a $2 million prize.
Gooding, from Southbank on the southern side of Francois Lake, bought the ticket at the Sne Cal Yegh Gas Bar in Burns Lake. Since you have to pay for gas inside, she decided to pick up a lottery ticket while she was there.
“I’ve been playing those same numbers for 21 years,” Gooding said in a press release issued by the BC Lottery Corporation. “Those birthdays are significant to something happy in my life, and to win with those numbers … it’s just another happy moment in my life!”
Gooding said she was at home on Victoria Day, when she decided to check her numbers. When she realized she’d won, she called her husband over immediately.
“We were just so happy, hugging each other. I jumped out of my seat, I was so excited,” Gooding said.
The couple plan to pay off their mortgage, share their good fortune with family and tick an item off their bucket list by going on a second honeymoon to England.
