An Etobicoke man and lover of trains says he plans to journey the world after being unveiled because the $65 million jackpot winner by way of OLG Lotto Max.
For years, Mohit Sharma says he dreamed of stepping aboard the world’s most luxurious trains, traversing continents in model and luxury. He instructed the OLG that his lottery journey started in 2020, in the course of the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It turned a little bit of a weekly ritual,” Sharma mentioned. “One thing to look ahead to every week when issues felt unsure.”
Sticking to a set finances, Sharma mentioned he recurrently bought Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 tickets, at all times together with Encore and at all times selecting Fast Choose numbers, randomly generated by the lottery terminal.
That easy determination paid off in a monumental manner when the Fast Choose ticket he bought for the Oct. 15, 2024, draw turned out to be the only real winner of the $65 million grand prize.
“I don’t choose the numbers,” Sharma mentioned. “So, understanding {that a} random quantity that the lottery pc picked for me was the winner, and that my title was on that ticket, is simply unbelievable.”
Etobicoke man and famous practice admirer
Sharma, who likes to test his tickets quickly after the draw, mentioned the day he came upon he’d gained is one he’ll always remember.
“I heard on the information that the successful ticket was bought in Etobicoke,” he mentioned.
“I had a few tickets in a drawer, so I set them on the desk and began scanning them utilizing the OLG app. The primary ticket I scanned was the winner! I couldn’t imagine it — my coronary heart began pounding. My telephone display screen lit up because the phrases ‘Massive Winner’ flashed throughout the display screen. I believed to myself, ‘I assume that individual I heard about on the information was me!’”
For years, Mohit Sharma says he dreamed of stepping aboard the world’s most luxurious trains, traversing continents in model and luxury. Picture OLG.
Sharma says he was in the midst of cooking when he made the invention.
“I don’t know the way I had the readability to show off the range,” he mentioned, laughing. “There may’ve been a hearth in my kitchen!”
He was desirous to share the information along with his household, however they had been travelling on the time. Not eager to interrupt their journeys or trigger any alarm, he determined to attend till everybody was again dwelling.
“I needed to inform them in individual.”
When the second lastly arrived, Sharma gathered his household for the large reveal.
“To say they had been shocked is an understatement,” he recalled. “I needed to pinch a few them to show it was actual. It was an emotional second with a number of trembling palms and elevated coronary heart charges throughout.”
Sharma says he’s now prepared to satisfy a lifelong dream: traversing the globe by practice.
“The world’s most iconic railways have at all times fascinated me,” he mentioned. “And now, I’m going to see all of them.
“I’ve dreamt of travelling on these luxurious and unique trains. I wish to go to Japan to expertise one of many world’s quickest trains, the Shinkansen,” he continued.
“I additionally wish to journey on the Indian Pacific, which matches from Sydney to Perth, Australia. The well-known Orient Specific is one other on high of my listing, too. I’m excited to see extra of Canada once I hop on The Canadian, from Toronto to Vancouver. As well as, I wish to journey the Caledonia Sleeper, which crisscrosses the UK. That is what’s going to excite me probably the most.”
Mohit bought his successful ticket at Lakeshore Mini Mart on Lakeshore Boulevard West in Etobicoke.
