A Quebec Man Won The Lottery & Waited Nearly A Year Before Cashing In His Winning Ticket

When you hit the jackpot and win $1,000,000, chances are you would be running to collect your winnings. Well, that clearly wasn't the case for Denis Brunelle — who won seven figures and waited 11 months to cash it in.

The Estrie resident won his million-dollar prize with Extra back on November 5, 2021, and took his sweet time to validate his winning ticket. Turns out, Brunelle is self-employed and travels a lot for work, so he had no choice but to wait several months before claiming his prize on October 6, 2022.

Upon validation, the employee told the newly appointed millionaire that he'd actually won $1,000. When Brunelle got into his car, he read the validation slip that the employee had given him and realized he'd won $1,000,000, not $1,000. Pretty sweet surprise, right?

Loto Québec says that Denis Brunelle plans on using his prize money to buy a home on the waterfront. Brunelle is also set on working fewer hours and living his best life — just as he should!

As for misreading lottery tickets, it happens more often than you'd think. On October 25, Charles Beauchesne Girard of Mauricie also misread his winning ticket, only seeing a few zeros when in fact, he'd also won the million-dollar Lotto Max prize.

The moral of the story? Check your tickets folks...and check 'em good, really good.