One Newmarket Ont., man is waking up $65 million richer after winning the March Lotto Max jackpot. Mark Hanley, a retired business software analyst, was enjoying breakfast when he decided to check his lottery ticket; a routine he’s followed for the past 30 years. He started by matching a few numbers, which gradually built into something he never imagined. “I’ve been playing the lottery for 30 years, and when I counted all seven numbers, I was disappointed that I didn’t match the bonus number,” Mark recounted. “Then I realized there are only seven numbers with Lotto Max and I got the big one. When I saw there was only one winner and the jackpot was $65 million, I started jumping for joy, saying, ‘Touchdown.’” While Hanley was celebrating his life-changing win, his wife was still fast asleep upstairs. He debated whether to wake her but eventually decided the news was well worth the interruption. He recounted, “Is this important enough to wake up my wife, who loves her sleep? So, I decided to share the news by saying, ‘Honey, do you want to kiss a millionaire?’ Funny enough, she said, ‘No,’ and tried to go back to sleep.” Mark convinced his wife to get out of bed so he could show her his winning ticket. “She looked at the ticket and thought, ‘So what...?’ So, I told her to go take a shower to fully wake up. When she came back, the reality of this win started to settle in, and she began crying tears of joy.” Rather than breaking the news over the phone, the excited couple chose to tell their children in person. When they arrived, emotions overflowed, “My wife handed me her coffee so she could give them a proper hug. She was crying before we even got to the door,” he said. “But once we told them, they were overwhelmed with happiness.” The Newmarket man says he plans to share his winnings with his children and his extended family. “They probably won’t believe it at first,” he admitted. “You don’t expect someone to just show up and hand you a gift like that.” As for what’s next, Hanley is already dreaming large. “I want to travel the world for its food,” he said. “France is high on my list. French bread, French wine, and especially French cheese.” He also joked about a more extravagant dream. “I want to buy a castle but my wife won’t let me.” Though he still hasn’t wrapped his head around the win, Hanley says he’s incredibly grateful. “The Lotto Max commercials say, ‘Dream Bigger,’ but I still haven’t quite gotten that in my head. I always dreamt of winning a couple of million, but this amount is just baffling. I just feel so grateful and blessed that this win came my way,” he shared with OLG in Toronto.
