For one Hamilton, Ont. couple who’d fallen onto hard times, their recent $1 million Lotto Max prize could not have come any sooner.
The windfall of cash is meaningful for 58-year-old Robert Benning because he recently lost his job at a steel factory after the plant shut down.
After finding out about the win, Benning woke up 59-year-old retiree Catherine Bates to tell her the news—and propose to her. The couple share three children together.
"This windfall is a big relief," he said in an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation release.
"He told me about our win, and then he proposed!" she said.Benning added that “this prize gives us the freedom to enjoy life without having to worry.”
With the money, the couple plan on helping their kids and buying a new trailer to park “somewhere down south,” Bates said.
They’re no strangers to buying lotto tickets but the couple say it was the first time they’d bought a lottery ticket online.
The first mention of Benning and Bates winning the June 8 $1 million MAXMILLIONS prize had come back in August. But because Bates’ son is an OLG employee, the win fell within OLG's definition of an Insider Win.
That meant that the prize had to be held for 30 days and reviewed by a third party that worked in partnership with OLG’s regulator, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario. Because no other claimants came forward in that time, the prize was paid out to the couple on Thursday, September 20.
