Vancouver Island lottery winner says $1M prize 'will change my son's life'

Courtenay resident Frederick Pelletier found out he won a $1-million Lotto 6/49 prize after arriving at Nanaimo's Departure Bay terminal. (BCLC)

A Vancouver Island man says his family's life will change after he stepped off a ferry and checked his lottery ticket.

Courtenay resident Frederick Pelletier found out he won a $1-million Lotto 6/49 prize after arriving at Nanaimo's Departure Bay terminal.

The ferry-tale win took a minute to sink in for Pelletier and his wife.

"She called me a liar," he told the B.C. Lottery Corporation, according to a news release from the agency Wednesday.

Pelletier's wife had been waiting in the car while he stopped to get a coffee and check his ticket at the terminal's Scuttlebutt News.

Pelletier said he brought his wife back to the shop to see for herself.

"[This win] will change my son's life," he said. "We have thought about taking trips, now the things we discussed are more in reach."

Pelletier had just been visiting his son before getting on the ferry home. He said he also hopes to travel and add to his investments.

Pelletier bought the winning ticket for the Aug. 2 draw at the Shell gas station on the Island Highway and Headquarters Road in Courtenay.

The lottery corporation says B.C. lottery players have won more than $89 million on Lotto 6/49 so far this year. The odds of winning a Lotto 6/49 jackpot are one in 13,983,816 per play.