VICTORIA -- A group of bus drivers in Victoria are planning to celebrate after winning a $1-million lottery prize.
Frederick “Nate” Green is the “team captain” of a group of friends who regularly purchase lottery tickets together, nine of whom are bus drivers.
Earlier this month, Green learned that a ticket that the group bought at a kiosk at University Heights Mall turned out to be the winning draw for a lottery on July 31.
“It was a really great feeling to be able to tell the guys we won — we really won,” Green told the B.C. Lottery Corporation.
The Victoria resident says that when he told the group they had won, one of his friends was stunned.
“He was in shock, he just kept walking around in circles,” he said. “I think he forgot where he was.”
One of the 10 winners told CTV News that he plans to use his share of the winnings to pay off the mortgage on his house and buy his wife a new car.
Green says the group has bought Lotto Max and BC/49 tickets twice a month for the past seven years. Now, despite winning, the group plans on continuing to buy more tickets in the future.
“We got our spark back now that we won,” he said.
In the short term, the group plans on celebrating their win by organizing a physically distanced celebration.
Vancouver Island has been home to several recent B.C. lottery winners.
On July 28, two island residents – one from Nanaimo and one from Chemainus – won $500,000 each in a lottery draw on the same day.
