An Ontario man is planning to use part of his $12M lottery winnings to reunite with his mother, whom he hasn’t seen in 11 years.
Sheba Sheba, who lives in Woodbridge, Ont., hasn’t seen his mother, who lives in Lebanon, in 11 years due to distance, health issues and a lack of funds.
Sheba told reporters at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto that he had stopped to grab a coffee and check his lottery ticket at a convenience store on Sunday. Without his glasses, he thought he saw something different on the self-check screen but wasn’t sure. Sheba then went up to the counter and asked for the ticket to be validated.
“(The retailer) said, ‘You’re a big winner!’” Sheba said. “I was so excited that I started screaming too.”
Sheba said he ran into his house and woke up his family to tell them the good news.
Sheba, originally from Iraq, said he plans on using a portion of his Lotto 6/49 jackpot winnings to see his mother once again.
“She is a wonderful woman and I have missed her very much,” Sheba shared at the prize centre. “Seeing her again is at the top of my wish list.”
The married father of three said that the lottery winnings will not only give him a chance to see his mother again, but to also visit his family in Jordan and Iraq so that they can celebrate.
Sheba also plans on using the money to help his newlywed daughter and her husband buy their first home, to help his son open up a barbershop and to pay for his youngest daughter’s education.
