Six lucky Quebecers split $32M jackpot

Six lucky Quebecers had a lot to be grateful this Thanksgiving weekend as they split $32 million from the Oct. 9 Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball Jackpot. (Source: Loto Quebec)

Six lucky Quebecers had much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend as they split $32 million from the Oct. 9 Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball Jackpot.

The winning ticket was sold in five shares worth $6.4 million each to Benoit Laberge, Marie-Josée Roy, Louise Lanthier, Jeanne Bouchard Pharand, and Alain Dupuis with his wife Lyne Beaulieu.

The winners are all from the Monteregie, except Roy, who lives in Montreal. The five winners didn't know each other before winning the lottery.

"Every day on my way to work I pick up a newspaper and my lottery tickets at the depanneur," said Laberge.

"At first, I thought I won $6,400, but the clerk was seeing all the other zeroes. I had to tell myself to calm down."

He plans to take an early retirement with his spouse.

Lanthier was home alone when she saw the winning numbers online and realized she was a new millionaire.

"I thought I was dreaming," she said.

Roy, an avid equestrian, was filling up her gas tank on the way to a friend's barn when she decided to pick up a lottery ticket — something she only does occasionally.

"I think I spent a whole day glued to my chair without moving, it's strange," she said, adding she'll have more time for her horse.

"I'm still pinching myself."

While Dupuis and Beaulieu said they'll "think hard" about how they'll be spending their prize money, Bouchard Pharand already dreams of purchasing a new car and spoiling her family.

Over the last year, Loto-Québec handed out $120 million.