A Canadian teen who lucked out after purchasing her very first lottery ticket had apparently emptied out her piggybank to donate to charity when she was just five years old.
Juliette Lamour from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, was announced as the winner of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) lottery on Friday last week (February 3).
At just 18 years old, Lamour is the youngest person in Canadian history to win the OLG lottery.
The lucky lass reportedly bought the ticket soon after her 18th birthday on her grandfather's advice but apparently had forgotten all about it until she'd heard that the lottery had been won by someone from her town.
As it turns out, Lamour's lottery win seems to have been a big lot of karma, after it was revealed that she emptied her piggybank as a youngster to donate her hard-earned cash to those most affected by the Haiti earthquake in 2010, outlets The Sun and MailOnline reported.
Lamour and her sister had saved over $60 to donate to the Canadian Red Cross, unaware that they'd eventually get it all back (and then some!) 13 years later.
The teen discovered the fantastic win while at work as a pharmacist's assistant. Her boss was the one who checked her ticket numbers on the app.
"The pharmacist, his hands went to his head, he fell on his knees. He's like, 'Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!' I was so in shock. ... He showed me the phone. He's like, 'You just won this!' I'm like, 'How many zeroes is that? Let me count!'" she said, via Good Morning America.
Her first phone call was to her parents, as she recalls stating: "I called my mom and she answered the phone. I'm like, 'I won the lottery!' She's like, 'No, you didn't!' My co-workers were behind me. They're telling my mom, 'Come and get her! Come and get her!' She came to my work and I gave her the ticket. I was so scared. I already signed it all shaky."
Lamour is hoping to invest the money and travel the world once she's finished with her education, though she still hopes to give back to her local community - the indigenous Garden River First Nation peoples - by becoming a doctor.
"I wanted to go to medical school before winning the lottery. Now I can pursue this dream without worrying about grants or loans," Lamour said. "As a member [of] the Garden River First Nation community, I was eligible for educational assistance programs, but I no longer need those resources which means someone else in the community can benefit from that funding [...] I really want to come back to this area as a doctor so I can give back to my community."
