SYDNEY, N.S. — A woman from Sydney, N.S., won nearly $3 million in a Chase the Ace fundraising draw Saturday night.
Kathy McPherson drew the elusive ace of spade from among the five remaining cards.
The 62-year-old woman takes home $2,911,126.80.
Chase the Ace is like a 50-50 draw in which players buy numbered tickets for $5 each.
The winner gets a percentage of the total ticket sales and a bigger jackpot if they pull the ace of spades from a deck of cards that gets smaller with each successive draw.
The balance of the money goes to the Ashby Legion and the Horizon Achievement Centre, which provides employment for people with mental disabilities in Cape Breton.
McPherson, who recently came back from working in northern Alberta, was in disbelief when she drew the ace.
"Oh my god," McPherson said when she saw the ace, to cheers from onlookers.
"I'm in shock," she told reporters shortly after drawing the card.
McPherson said she would be helping her two children and her grandchildren, and added that her working days are over.
TO QUIT HER JOB, HELP HER FAMILY
SYDNEY, N.S. — A Cape Breton grandmother received a very special card this Mother's Day weekend — an ace of spades worth $2.9 million.
Kathy McPherson won the record-breaking jackpot in the Chase the Ace fundraiser in her hometown of Sydney, N.S., on Saturday evening, a year to the day after the lottery began.
The 62-year-old woman says she recently returned from a labour job in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., but plans to put her working days behind her.
McPherson says she will share her winnings with her husband Ron — a scaffolding worker — her son in Newfoundland, her daughter in Halifax and will contribute to her grandchildren's education funds.
She says she also plans on donating some of her winnings to the wildfire relief effort in Fort McMurray, Alta., where she worked for seven years.
Chase the Ace is like a 50-50 draw in which players buy numbered tickets for $5 each. The winner gets a percentage of the total ticket sales and a bigger jackpot if they pull the ace of spades from a deck of cards that gets smaller with each successive draw.
