Vancouver Islander scoops $55M lotto win

A Vancouver Island man has scooped a whopping $55-million lottery win.

William Scott Gurney had originally thought he'd won $55,000.

"I called my assistant to my office, and she initially read the number on my phone as $55,000, she then realized it said $55 million and we couldn’t do anything all day after," Gurney said in a B.C. Lottery Corporation media release issued today, April 4. "It’s life altering. It just doesn’t seem real."

Gurney is taking some time to decide what’s next, but he plans to help his family and purchase a home on Vancouver Island with a dock. He also hopes to purchase a vacation home and travel.

And while he plans to retire, the bookkeeper isn't leaving his clients high and dry and is focused on finding someone to look after before he quits work.

He said that he "will not be returning for another tax season."

Gurney purchased the winning ticket at the Save-On-Foods on Beacon Avenue in Sidney.


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Ben Bulmer

After a decade of globetrotting, U.K. native Ben Bulmer ended up settling in Canada in 2009. Calling Vancouver home he headed back to school and studied journalism at Langara College. From there he headed to Ottawa before winding up in a small anglophone village in Quebec, where he worked for three years at a feisty English language newspaper. Ben is always on the hunt for a good story, an interesting tale and to dig up what really matters to the community.

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