A Quebec Woman Won Over $150K In The Lottery & Only Realized It 8 Months Later

When folks buy lottery tickets the common hope is that they will discover upon validation that they've won a hefty chunk of change. That was indeed the case for Laurentides resident Claudine Lewe-Johann — but it happened over a very extended timeline.

Claudine bought a Grande Vie lottery ticket back on January 17, 2022, that, it turns out, was worth $166,666. However, she didn't realize this until September 23 — a total of eight months and six days after having purchased the winning ticket.

Loto Quebec said that Claudine realized she had won big after checking a few tickets she and her spouse had accumulated over time. "They were shocked to find out that the Grande Vie ticket she bought on January 17 was the winner of a bonus prize."

A total of three winning selections for the bonus prize in question were won across Canada, so the Laurentides resident ended up winning a third of the lump-sum payment of $500,000.

Lewe-Johann says that she plans on using her unexpected windfall to buy a house. She'll also be putting some aside for savings and of course, enjoying a little bit of it for a shopping spree.

The $166,666 winning ticket was purchased at a Couche-Tard in Blainville.

Moral of the story, y'all? Don't wait months before checking those lottery tickets, because you just might be sitting on thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of winnings.