Gary Hill, a 61-year-old semi-retired trucker, is Kamloops’ newest multimillionaire.
The long-time Kamloops resident won $35-million after he matched all seven numbers in the June 22 Lotto Max draw, one of two winners in a record-setting $70-million draw.
“I had to read it again and then my legs went like spaghetti and I grabbed the wall,” Hill said, describing what it was like when he realized he was a big winner. “I looked at the ticket and I looked at the numbers and I fell on the bed and actually cried for fifteen minutes.”
Hill bought his winning ticket at Magoo’s Smoke Shop at North Hills Mall in Kamloops. He says he had a good feeling about his odds thanks to a pair of unusual dragonfly encounters.
The first one happened the day before the draw, on June 21, when he was sitting on his mom’s deck.
“A dragonfly shows up and it’s sitting on a branch staring at me, and he’s got four wings and he’s flapping and I’m like, I haven’t seen dragonfly ever,” Hill said.
When he saw another dragonfly the next day, he felt it couldn’t be a mere coincidence.
“I had to stop and say, ‘Hey dragonfly, you’re back. Why are you here?'” Hill added.
After learning from his mother that the winning ticket was sold in the city, Hill checked his ticket online and knew immediately he’d won big since he’s played the same numbers for the last two years – 7, 11, 22, 28, 33, 44 and 49.
“I haven’t come back down since the news,” he added. “I had to tell someone. My mum was out there watering her plants. I wiped my eyes off because they were red and red and I went in an said, ‘you have to come in and sit down’ and she said, ‘what’s wrong?’ and I said, ‘just sit down’ and I’m rubbing my head because I don’t know how to say this. How do you say something like that?”
“I said ‘well, I won Lotto Max, and she goes, ‘Gary, no!'”
He eventually told his sister, brother-in-law, and his nieces and nephews about this lottery win.
Hill used to work part-time plowing streets but with his newfound fortune, he is officially retired. He also plans to travel to Denmark once its safe to do so, and will give some of his winnings to family, but notes the experience is still sinking in.
“I really don’t know what to do. I’m just getting back to normal again. So when it hits the bank, it will probably be a month before I figure out what I’m going to do,” he said.
“I’m just going to come back to earth because I’m off planet right now.”
– With files from Bill Cowen
What do you do when you just won $35 million? You dance. #Kamloops@RadioNLNews @BCLC pic.twitter.com/7RORslu399
— Victor Mario Kaisar (@supermario_47) July 7, 2021
