TORONTO -- A Yellowknife woman has been revealed as the winner of the Northwest Territories’ largest-ever lottery jackpot.
The N.W.T. and Nunavut Lotteries announced on Monday that Laura Tutcho had won the $55 million Lotto Max draw from May 1.
"I'm just beside myself," Tutcho said in a statement to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), "It's so exciting and overwhelming."
According to the WCLC, Tutcho bought her winning Lotto Max ticket -- an $11 quick pick -- from a Reddi Mart convenience store in Yellowknife. She was the only player across Canada to hit all seven winning numbers in the draw.
Tutcho said that she checked her numbers online after her granddaughter mentioned that someone in Yellowknife had won the draw.
"I was in shock! I said, 'Oh, my god!' My grandkids came in right away, and my grandson asked, 'Are you all right, Grandma?'" Tutcho said.
Tutcho said she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw that her numbers matched.
"I just kept looking at the ticket, and looking back at the numbers," she said. "My granddaughter told me, 'the numbers haven't changed, Grandma'."
Once it finally set in that she was about to become a multimillionaire, Tutcho began consulting with investment and financial advisers to figure out what to do with her newfound wealth.
Tutcho said her priority is to use the money to help her immediate family.
Tutcho is originally from Deline First Nation, and holds a Master of Education degree in Indigenous Language Revitalization, according to the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board.
She worked as a freelance interpreter and dedicated much of her career to the revitalization and preservation of her own Sahtugot'ıine language.
