Coquitlam woman planning trip to Philippines after winning $1 million on lottery ticket

Rosa Rodriguez in a photo handed out by BCLC

A Coquitlam resident is now a millionaire after winning $1 million on a Lotto 6/49 ticket.

Rosa Rodriguez purchased the winning ticket at the London Drugs in Coquitlam Centre. It was during a trip to the Port Coquitlam Chevron to get gas and buy another lottery ticket that she found out she won the July 8 draw.

“I checked my (other) ticket and thought I only won $1,000. I was too short to see the scanner so I had to lean up and scan again,” she recalled in a BCLC news release. “I could not believe I just won a million dollars.”

Rodriguez said she was most excited to share the news with her husband. “He was so excited and gave me a hug,” she recounted.

She plans to use her winnings to visit her family in the Philippines, build a new home there and renovate her Coquitlam home. She also wants to help her son and visit Singapore, where she and her husband met.

Rodriguez said she’s “still shocked and floating in the air” after the big win.

According to BCLC, B.C. lottery players have won over $63 million on Lotto 6/49 draws so far this year.

The odds of matching all six numbers for the top prize of $5 million on a Lotto 6/49 ticket are one in 13,983,816. The odds of winning the gold ball or guaranteed $1 million prize – as Rodriguez did – depend on the number of tickets sold.