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A new Hope: $1 Million Guaranteed Prize for newly minted Hope resident

Lottery winner says big prize will help build up her retirement nest egg
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Susan Friesen of Hope is the most recent big lottery winner. (BC Lotto photo)

Susan Friesen has lived pretty much her entire life in Abbotsford, but a change in scenery to Hope inspired her to buy a Lotto 6/49 ticket for the draw on Oct. 6. That inspiration led to her winning the $1-million Guaranteed Prize.

“I guess I was sensing the energy of Hope, giving me hope,” says Friesen.

Friesen purchased her winning ticket on PlayNow.com, winning the big prize on a free play.

“I logged in to my PlayNow.com account and saw this ‘$1 million’ up there in the right-hand corner and kind of stared at it for a second thinking there was some sort of computer glitch happening,” explained Friesen. “After I picked my jaw up off the ground, I ran and grabbed my husband and was shaking so hard. I couldn’t even tell him what was going on except drag him to the computer to see.”

Friesen admits she had a hard time believing what she saw on her screen.

“I work in the tech industry, so I know glitches can happen. I said to my husband that I bet there’s a computer glitch, and there’s a few extra zeros added onto that top right-hand corner.”

Friesen says the majority of her winnings will go directly towards retirement, but adds there are two items that she and her husband would love to splurge on as new Hope residents.

“Now that we’re in an area that has a ton of hiking trails, maybe we’ll get ourselves a couple of electric bikes. It’s the thing up here, everybody has got electric bikes, a dog, and a pickup truck. You’ve got to have all three in order to live in Hope!”

So far in 2021, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $69 million in winnings from Lotto 6/49. Lotto 6/49 is a nationwide lottery game drawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays after 7:30 p.m. (PST).

BCLC offers socially responsible gambling entertainment while generating income to benefit all British Columbians. Remember, play for fun, not to make money. For more information, visit GameSense.com.


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jessica.peters@hopestandard.com

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