$3.6 million lottery winner waits almost a year to cash ticket
31st July, 2008
When most people win the lottery they rush straight to the lottery headquarters and claim their prize immediately, but Peter Dushop did something nobody can even begin to wrap their minds around. Instead the winner of a $3.6 million lottery jackpot took his winning ticket and put it in a safety deposit box, where it would stay for nearly a year before cashing it in.
Everyone still seems baffled that someone who had just won a life-changing amount of money could wait as long as he did before claiming the prize with a ticket that was dated to expire in a little more than three weeks.
Dushop seems to be taking the process rather slowly and says he won’t be making any large purchases with his newly acquired wealth.
“I won’t be driving a Ferrari next week or anything like that,” Dushop said. “I’ll take a vacation somewhere hot, and I’d like to see Europe again.”
Many publications reporting on this story have pointed out that Dushop, had he cashed in the ticket and sat on the money, would have accumulated over $100,000 in interest, which is why so many people are questioning the man’s decision to wait.
“I definitely thought about the interest, but in relation to the overall prize I thought it was worth taking the time to just come to terms with everything,” said Dushop. “I just really needed some time to think about how this will affect me and the people around me. I’m still kind of in shock...It took time to fathom what was happening. Basically, it’s a go-through-life free card if I planned it right. I wanted to make sure I knew what I’d do with it.”
Dushop had informed his mother of the winnings, but kept the news from his girlfriend the whole time, which leads many to believe that he wanted to know if she liked him for him and not for the money.
The lottery jackpot was won playing the 6/49 Lotto under the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
By Michael
