$1M lotto winner says late wife promised she'd make sure he'd win one day

Herman Iyoupebelieves his late wife Patricia is the reason he's $1 millionricher.

The Atlantic 49 winner from Eastern Passage, N.S., said the day before his wife of 46 years died of lung cancer almost a year ago,she told him she would make sure he won.

"She said to me, 'You know what? I'm going to make sure you that win the lottery because every draw you say you're going to win it and every draw, people pick [on]you,'" Iyoupe said.

"She said, 'I'm going to make sure when I die,' and I said, 'Please don't say that.' She said, 'But it's going to happen.' So she said, 'When I die, I'm going to make sure that you win thelottery so they won't laugh at you anymore.'"

'The machine went crazy'

On Dec. 3, the morning after the six winning numbers were announced, Iyoupepicked up a printout of the winning numbers and went to look at them while he had a coffee at TimHortons. It was there he realized he'd won the big prize.

Iyoupesaid he then drove toBridgewater, N.S., where he bought the ticket.

"I said to buddy, I said, 'I believe I won a million dollars.' And he kind of said, 'Yeah, right.' So I said, 'Nah, I'm only jokin'with you.' He went and he punched it in and the machine went crazy," said Iyoupe.

"I think he was shocked more than ... I was."

Iyoupethen started calling his family to tell them the news. At first, he saidthey didn't believe him.

Plans for his prize

"Nobody believed me untilafter I said, 'You don't have to believe me, but it's true,'" said Iyoupe.

Now that he has the money,Iyoupe said he plans to retire from his dump truck driving joband make some improvements to his home. He's also planning a special trip to MontegoBay, Jamaica a place his wife always wanted to visit to spread some of her ashes.

"I think she's smiling down on me right now and glad," said Iyoupe. "The first thing I done when I found out that I won, I said, 'Thank you, God. Willyou give my wife a hug and a kiss and tell her that I love her?'"