赢得1560万美元彩票大奖 爱蒙顿幸运男喜简朴过活

　　爱蒙顿市1名男子知道他赢得彩票奖金1,560万元，立刻提醒自己，千万不能心脏病发。

　　男子怀塔克(James Whittaker)说，他从18岁开始就开始买彩票，但是从来奖金没有超过一百美元。

　　没有想到在他人生34岁的时候，时来运转，居然赢得了15689035.70美元。

　　他买了1月16日开奖的彩票(Lotto 6/49)，知道这张彩票有中奖。

　　他上彩票店核对彩票号码前，还不知道自己坐拥多少彩金。

　　怀塔克知道奖金款额，随即冷静下来，开始打电话给朋友报喜讯。

　　他的女朋友初时不相信他中奖，但她很快接受他的说法。

　　他打算拿彩金投资，除了投资的钱，可能会花费一些时间做足球教练，还要带着女友一块去旅行。

　　怀塔克周二说：「我喜欢更简朴的生活方式，我一直盼望这个时刻。」

　　EDMONTON - “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.”

　　Alberta’s newest millionaire, 34-year-old Jamie Whittaker, said these are the words of family and friends who are talking about his Lotto 6/49 win as though it’s a funeral.

　　“It’s like I’ve died, and everybody’s eulogizing me,” said Whittaker during an Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission ceremony Tuesday, where he was awarded nearly $15.7 million for the Jan. 16 draw.

　　Whittaker, who lives in Edmonton, went into a Sherwood Park 7-Eleven on his lunch break last Thursday to buy a Slurpee and check his ticket.

　　“ ‘Jackpot winner’ came up, and it was 15 ... big number ... comma ... big number ... and then I remember the 70 cents,” said Whittaker, with an excited chuckle.

　　The number Whittaker was seeing flash before him on the screen was $15,689,035.70, to be exact.

　　The win is another instance of good luck for Lotto 6/49 players in the province. The three biggest jackpots in the draw’s history have gone to Albertans.

　　Whittaker, who has been buying lottery tickets since he was 18 and has only won twice before — both times under $100 — said it was hard to believe.

　　“I told myself, don’t be silly, that just happened within a millisecond.”

　　His friend, who was with him at the time, told him to double-check the numbers, but to sign the ticket first.

　　Whittaker scribbled his signature on the ticket and handed it to the clerk at the counter. Again, the word “winner” and the big number flashed before him.

　　Whittaker dropped to his knees and told himself not to have a heart attack.

　　After going back out to his truck to call his girlfriend, Allena VanWerkhoven, 21, and a few friends, Whittaker went back to work but left early to celebrate.

　　“I just purchased two lotto quick picks and a Slurpee, and it came to $5.77, and here I am,” said Whittaker.

　　Whittaker has worked for Tarpon Energy just outside of Edmonton for the past five months as a materials co-ordinator.

　　On Monday, he quit his job, and while he said the past three years have been a struggle for him — dealing with unemployment, and a serious back injury suffered during work in the oilfield — he plans to pay off his debt, invest most of his money, and live a less stressful life from now on.

　　“I’m a planner. I’ve always dreamed of this moment, and what I would do if I won. Now it’s just a matter of executing that plan.”

　　Whittaker has already met with financial advisers and invested $13 million of his $15 million.

　　He’s also divvied some of his winnings up by sharing with his parents, his sisters, his girlfriend’s parents, and an autistic nephew named Jack, who needed help with therapies and treatments.

　　Whittaker also has eight years of experience working in the brokerage industry as an investment adviser, where he said he spent all his time making money for other people. He plans to do the same for himself.

　　Aside from investing, the first big-ticket item Whittaker purchased was a pair of $168 cowboy boots from Lammle’s Western Wear, he said.

　　He has also purchased a $1,000 leather jacket.

　　Whittaker and his girlfriend are off to Las Vegas Tuesday evening, after the AGLC takes them to bank in the limousine.

　　“Our last trip to Vegas was not good. Alena was sick, and everything was so expensive ... we’ve really been counting the pennies,” said Whittaker, “Now we will be able to do it better — quite honestly a lot better.”