Post date: Aug 12, 2011 11:13:20 AM
Eighteen workers in Ottawa - ten who had learned the day before they would lose their jobs - win the lottery with a jackpot of 7 million dollars.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA (AUGUST 11, 2011) CBC - one 24-hour period, some employees of a SMART Technologies manufacturing plant in Ottawa received the bad news that they were losing their jobs, only to then learn unexpectedly that they had won the lottery.
Gathered at a table Thursday afternoon just hours after finding out they had won, the surprised winners who regularly played the lottery joined their mugs and glasses to toast their 7 million dollar victory.
Lottery winner Colin Willard remembered hearing about the lay-off on Wednesday (August 11)."Wouldn't it be nice to win the lottery before we leave SMART and and bing?" he said in an interview with CBC News. "The next day we win it."
SMART Technologies announced that 200 workers would be laid-off, ten of whom were lottery winners, according to CBC.
Willard described the surprise of his windfall.
"I looked at the numbers and I had to ask somebody to come and take a look at them because I wasn't sure if I was reading it right and she said, 'Oh you got them all,' and I started to shake, vibrate in my seat," he said.
At the SMART plant, some colleagues who did not play with the group in the lottery congratulated the winners.
"I'm very happy for them. we are very good friends co-workers," one colleague said in an interview with CBC.
The 18 winners of the 6/49 lotto prize will receive about 400 thousand Canadian dollars each.
Joining his friend for a celebratory drink of Scotch, lottery winner Tony Mather summed up the win.
"It's been rough. Things are good now."
On Friday, the winning 18 were not expected at work - they had to head to Toronto to claim their prize, according to CBC.