Dragonfly sighting convinced Kamloops $35M winner good fortune was on the way

KAMLOOPS — Wednesday (July 7), BCLC revealed the identity of the Kamloops man who won half of the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot.

“…I looked at the ticket and looked at the numbers and fell on the bed and actually cried for 15 minutes,” said Gary Hill of his reaction to winning the lottery.

Kamloops’ newest multi-millionaire said he will take his time deciding how to spend his money.

In the long term, he will travel and buy a home. He has no plans to leave Kamloops, a place he says is his ‘home’ and sense of ‘security.’ But one thing is for sure — the semi-retired truck driver is officially retiring.

When asked if he ever struggled financially, Hill replied that money was never really important to him — but signs from God are, and they played a big role in what he believes were nods that his life was about to change.

“Two days in a row I saw a dragonfly, and I Googled it and it said it means prosperity and abundance…” he explained.

“I had a reading a few weeks back and it said, ‘The next full moon will be the best day of your life,’” he continued.

Shortly after, he saw a full moon.

“So that’s what all that meant,” said Hill.

He’s not the only one who had his first multi-million dollar jackpot experience. It was also a first for the shop he bought it from.

“This is the biggest one, yeah. $35 million,” said Harry Aggarwal, co-owner at McGoo’s Smokes and Stuff.

Before that, McGoo’s biggest winning ticket sold was around $675,000.

61-Year-old Hill says he has been playing the same special numbers for years, and shortly before his win, he decided to quit playing the lottery altogether.

“‘Because, of course, you never win it. And then my intuition said get back playing, playing them numbers,” said Hill.

And the first ticket after his hiatus was the winner.