Whitby man claims $500,000 lottery win

A Whitby man is $500,000 richer after winning on an Instant Scratch ticket.

Russel Vaughan plays the lotto daily with scratch tickets and in draw-based games like Lotto Max. Recently he picked up a $10 Instant $500,000 Fortune ticket at the Gateway Newsstand on King Street in Oshawa.

“I usually check my tickets at home, but something caught my eye while I was playing my $500,000 Fortune ticket,” Russel told the OLG while at the Prize Centre in Toronto, “I decided to go to the store to have it validated. Suddenly, the lottery terminal froze and the winning jingle began to play. I was completely blown away.”

He told a friend of the win, “When I told her I won the lottery, she couldn’t believe it. She said, ‘No, you didn’t.’ and I responded, ‘Oh yes, I did.’”

Vaughan hasn’t decided what he will do with his win. “Winning feels awesome. It’s a feeling of pure happiness,” he said.