Childhood friends from Nanaimo celebrate $19.8M lottery jackpot

Two childhood friends in Nanaimo, B.C., are $19.8 millionricher after winning the Lotto 6/49 jackpot.

John Prpich and David Dubbin purchased the winning ticket from the 7-Eleven on the city's Bowen Road and on Friday were awarded a giant cheque for the amount from the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

"I thought there was no way John is going to believe this phone call," Dubbin said about sharing the news when he learnedthey had won.

The pair matched six numbers for the prize in the Nov. 28, 2018 draw.

'I always wanted to go to Thailand'

Prpich and Dubbin grew up playing hockey together and for the past 30 years have been buying lottery tickets together.

"I'm just glad to tell my kids," said Prpich about the win. "Now my kids are going to be OK."

The pair plan to buy new homes, cars and travel with the winnings.

Dubbin was planning on retiring in January, so the win couldn't have come at a better time.

He is also an avid golfer and plans to now play in exotic places like Thailand.

"I always wanted to go to Thailand," he said."I hear the golf courses there are fantastic now we can fly first class."

'Bragging rights'

Prpich says his wife also loves to travel and the pair plan to head to Australia. First though, he plans on heading into work a few times before retiring.

"Just for bragging rights," he said.

Lotto 6/49 is a nationwide lottery game, drawn twice a week, with a guaranteed prize of $1 million.