EDMONTON - Buying a lottery ticket with his Slurpee has been a tradition for James Whittaker since he turned 18. Until now, he had never won more than a hundred dollars, but it looks like the 34 year-old's luck has changed.
Whittaker's January 16th $5.77 drink and 6/49 lotto ticket purchase has won him $15,689,035.70.
"It's absolutely mind-blowing, he says.
"Like a lot of people, I had some bad fortune the last couple years, (and) was unemployed."
Five months ago, his friend got him a building job, which he says he really loved. In fact, the day he learned he was a millionaire, he was actually getting a raise.
"So it was really my day."
As much as he loved the job, the new millionaire won't be sticking around.
After living with debt, Whittaker is excited about getting to now 'play Oprah' to his family.
"My nephew Jack, he's got autism, so I'm able to now - their funding was just cut, so I'm able to now set up that Jack will be taken care of, have therapy and we can help him out as well as possible."
Aside from investing the money and potentially spending some time coaching football, Whittaker is also looking forward to doing some traveling. He and his girlfriend have their sights set on the South Pacific.
This was the tenth largest 6/49 jackpot ever won in Alberta. The largest belongs to a group of 17 oil workers who split $54 million dollars back in 2005.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.