Windsor mother and son scratch their way to $77,777

Daniel and Mary Golab with their winnings. (Source: OLG)

A mother and son duo from Windsor have scratched their way to victory, earning the top prize of $77,777 with the Instant 777 ticket.

Mary and Daniel Golab have played lottery tickets together for more than 10 years, with scratch tickets being their favourite. The two take turns, scratching half the ticket each.

“When picking out tickets, I usually go for whatever appeals to me in the moment,” Daniel said.

“I love seeing the signs at the store that say a big winner was sold there.”

While at the store picking tickets, Daniel joked, pointing to one and exclaimed “That one’s a winner!”. He bough the ticket, alongside a few others, and took his purchases home.

“I left the tickets in the car for a bit, and we played them later that night,” he said.

The mother and son scratched the first ticket, happy to win $10. Mary then began playing the next ticket, passing it to Daniel once it was his turn.

“We both crossed our fingers. Before long, we discovered we’d won the top prize!” They said.

When sharing the news with their family, they were very excited.

“As were the other customers in the store when we went to validate our ticket,” they added.

“The store owner lives upstairs, and when the clerk texted her to tell her there had been a big win, she nearly fell down the stairs!”

Mary said it feels so cool to win.

They plan to manage their finances with their winnings, do some home renovations, and take a cruise.

The winning ticket was bought at Lynn’s Variety on Richmond Street in Amherstburg.