‘I had to pinch myself’: Alberta couple beats cancer, wins $1M Lotto 6/49 prize

Lorraine and Clyde Delurey. (Supplied: Lotto Spot)

A couple from Bonnyville, Alta., says a $1-million Lotto 6/49 win marks the triumphant end of a difficult chapter in their lives.

Clyde Delurey spent six months in treatment for an aggressive cancer doctors told him might be incurable.

He beat those odds, and got even better ones on Thursday after his wife, Lorraine, checked their lottery tickets during morning coffee.

“I was in a deep sleep when she came in yelling and crying,” he said in a Lotto Spot news release. “I had to pinch myself when I saw the amount.”

The Delureys have been married for 49 years and now say they may have to celebrate their 50th anniversary “big” – but not before paying off a new truck and helping their kids buy their first home.

“My wife looked after me day and night when I was sick. She never left my side,” Clyde added. “We went from the lowest of lows to now the highest of highs.”

The couple bought their ticket from a Red Rooster in Bonnyville, Alta., and won the March 4 Gold Ball Draw with the selection 26538682-01, a white ball.