Lotto 6/49 winners in Airdrie hope to 'make a lot of people happy'

An Airdrie couple whose lives have just been transformed by a $14.5-million lotto windfall are already thinking of ways to spread the joy.

Christian and Monique Etienne had the winning ticket in the Dec.12 Lotto 6/49 draw.

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The Etiennes have some ideas for what to do with the $14,519,825 jackpot,but they say for now they're just savouring the experience.

"We were talking about how we can just help to make a lot of people happy," Monique Etienne said in a release."I've always wanted to take my mom back to Norway, her home country. Now I can."

Christian Etienne says their dogs turned out to be their lucky charms.

"I went to the gas station to rent a carpet cleaner to clean up a mess they made with a package of scone mix," said the regular 6/49 player."I picked up the lottery ticket while I was there."

He realized they had won when he took the ticket back to the Petro Canada station on Crossiron Boulevard in Balzac a few days after the Saturday draw.

"I used the self-checker to check," said Christian. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing."

The Etiennes won the game's jackpot by matching all six of the drawn numbers: 2, 10, 18, 20, 30 and 41.