Rodney Henman knows a thing or two about numbers. Now 83 years old, he's been retired for 24 years and married for almost 50. The Eastern Passage, resident is now also $1.8 million richer after matching all six numbers of the January 28 Lotto 649 draw.
"I‟ve been playing Lotto 649 since it started, but this is my first BIG win," notes Rodney, with an emphasis on BIG.
He hadn‟t planned to pick up the ticket that made him a millionaire. Rather, he was in town cashing in a ticket for a smaller win. As he picked up his cash he said to the clerk, "How about another ticket for the next draw?" Good thing!
Rodney discovered his numbers matched on Sunday afternoon. He kept calm, waiting "about 15 minutes" until his wife Olive was off the phone before saying anything to her. She got worried when he insisted they had to go the drug store.
"She asked what was wrong. I said, 'Nothing. I won the lottery,'" he recalls.
A trip back to the store confirmed he‟d won $1,845,845. Rodney says his children hooped and hollered when they found out about the win but he remained surprisingly calm; calm enough to pass his stress test at the hospital this past Monday.
"Good news travels fast though. The girls who booked me in at 8:20 Monday morning already knew I‟d won. I didn‟t know them but they knew me," he says.
"My stress test was OK too," he adds.
Rodney says he hasn't made any plans for the money other than to say that he'd like his children to have a "solid financial structure" and he wants to ensure his grandchildren get a good education.
"I do think we‟ll have a big splash on our 50 wedding anniversary in June," he says. "The events of the weekend will certainly help."
Passage Pharmasave in Easter Passage will receive a 1 per cent seller's prize for selling the winning ticket.
