A couple from Hanmer are the big winners in the much-talked about Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre 50/50 draw.
The news was revealed Friday afternoon as the draw for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences (TBRHS) Foundation was held at 11 a.m. with a $6.4-million jackpot.
Glenn Craig, president and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation, said he was pleased to make the phone call to Natalie and Clem Bigras of Sudbury, the winners of the record-breaking $6,436,355 grand prize in the TBRHS December draw.
“I think this is a call that’s going to change your lives,” Craig told the Bigras family moments before revealing the good news to them.
“Stop it, oh my God, I’m shaking like a leaf,” Natalie Bigras said through tears, a release from the foundation states.
Bigras explained her emotion, saying they had just dropped their son off at the airport as he was travelling back to Calgary, after not having seen his parents in six years.
Craig said it was certainly a life-changing phone call.
“Being able to tell someone they’ve just won over $6 million is an indescribable experience,” he said.
When asked what inspired them to buy tickets, the couple spoke about the impact of the 50/50 funds for the Thunder Bay hospital.
“Seeing what the hospital does with the 50/50 money, it goes back to the hospital. When you live in these rural areas up North, so many people have to go south to get care. Now, they’re getting things done there,” they said.
The year 2024 was a tough one for the family, the couple said, but things look brighter today.
“In July, I lost my dad and took care of him at home,” Natalie said. “I’ve been off work since May to be with him in his last three months of his life, and I had hospice care at home. I don’t regret any of it.
“I’m so grateful, so overwhelmed. My heart is full today.”
The TBRHS Foundation said the December draw shattered all expectations and quickly surpassed the guaranteed grand prize estimate of $2.5 million in the first week. The jackpot kept growing into what the foundation called the astonishing final total of more than $6.4 million, setting the record as the largest hospital draw in Canada.
Since its inception, the Thunder Bay 50/50 draw has awarded more than $50 million in prizes while helping fund health care in the region, said the foundation news release.