'Completely life-altering': Lethbridge man wins record-setting $55M on lottery

Aaron Parsons won $55 million on the April 25 Lotto Max draw. (Western Canada Lottery Corporation)

A Lethbridge man is crediting his girlfriend's sweet tooth for his sizeable lottery win.

Aaron Parsons won $55 million on the April 25 Lotto Max draw, the largest-ever Lotto Max win in Lethbridge and the fifth-largest in Alberta.

Parsons says the only reason he went to a local 7-Eleven was because his girlfriend was craving cake.

"We had no eggs or sugar, so we went to the store, and I bought the ticket," he said in a Thursday news release.

"If we hadn’t gone to the store that night, I wouldn’t have gotten this ticket and I wouldn’t have won $55 million."

Parsons purchased his ticket at the 7-Eleven on Scenic Drive North a few days before the draw, and says he checked it a few days after with the Lotto Spot app.

"I saw an ad about the lottery, and it reminded me to check my ticket.

"I could not believe it,” he said. “I scanned it a couple times to make sure I was seeing things right  and then I called the [Western Canada Lottery Corporation] to triple-check that I had actually won."

Parsons says the first thing he wants to do is tell his parents to quit their jobs, then he wants to give some money to his brother and his friends.

"And I told my girlfriend I would buy her a car, whatever car [she wants]," he said.

"This is completely life-altering, and I’m still in such shock. I haven’t started thinking about what I need or want right now – not yet."

Parsons won his prize by matching all seven main draw numbers: 4, 19, 21, 33, 37, 38 and 39.