N.S. couple win Set for Life top prize on final ticket from ATV trip
A vacation ATVing across Newfoundland and Labrador resulted in an unexpected souvenir for Anthony Smith and Laura Kennedy of Halifax, N.S. after their Scratch’N Win purchases along the way resulted in winning the Set for Life top prize of $675,000.
With six couples along for the adventure, Smith and Kennedy said they would both pick up some tickets
each day at various stores they passed along the way.
“Wherever we stopped to get gas or coffee or food, if they sold lottery, we were buying it,” Smith said.
When they reached their destination each night, the couple would then scratch a few of those tickets together. At the end of the trip, some of the tickets travelled back to Nova Scotia with them, still waiting
to be uncovered.
“There have been two tickets in the door of my car and there have been a few times these tickets nearly
fell out of the car,” Kennedy said. “This was the very last ticket out of the entire pack. We kind of forgot
about it.”
More than a month after they got home, Smith finally got around to playing the final ticket from their
trip. “I was in disbelief when I scratched because the lights were off, just the TV was on, so it was not the
best lighting,” he said. “I was just in disbelief until I scanned it with my phone.”
Atlantic Lottery’s Set for Life is a $4 Scratch’N Win ticket that offers two options for the top prize.
Winners can choose to receive $1,000 a week for 25 years, or a lump sum payment of $675,000. Smith
and Kennedy will receive the lump sum payment.
While the ticket nearly fell out of the car before it was scratched, Kennedy said they kept an extra close
watch on it after discovering it was a winner. “I was panicked. I haven’t slept right, I might have gotten four hours at the most every night for the last four nights,” she said. “I was just nerve-racking, what if something happens to the ticket?”
Smith and Kennedy plan to put their prize towards paying off their car and mortgage payments, as well
as taking a family vacation.
“It’s a big stress reliever. Life in general is getting expensive,” Smith said. “It’s nice to be able to put
some money away, pay off some bills and just kind of be comfortable. I’m still going to go to work every
day, but we’re working more for ourselves than to pay everyday bills.”
The winning Set for Life ticket was purchased at Mountainside General Store in Doyles, N.L. The retailer
will receive a one per cent seller’s prize.