Kelvin Fadear, 76, of Barriere won $1 million in the Dec. 24, 2016 Lotto 6/49 draw.
Image Credit: Contributed
January 04, 2017 - 1:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - A Barriere man is celebrating after a surprise Christmas Eve present.
Retired Vancouver firefighter Kelvin Fadear, 76, has claimed a $1 million prize in the Dec. 24 Lotto 6/49 draw. He drove to Kamloops today, Jan. 4, to collect his cheque and spend a some time at the B.C. Lottery Corporation headquarters.
Fadear wasn't certain of his win right away. After checking the numbers online 10 times he says he called his neighbours over to confirm the win.
"They came over the next morning," he says. "You need that when you don’t believe something."
While it's a big payday for him, he says the majority of the winnings will go to his kids.
Fadear says he's lived in Barriere for 20 years after leaving Vancouver to retire to the much quieter Thompson-area town. He spends time fishing, hunting and playing the lottery.
"I play for something to do," he says. "I'm going to see if I can’t win another one."
He’s was probably the last big lottery winner in the Thompson-Okanagan in 2016.
— This story was updated at 2:10 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017 to add comments from Fedear.
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