Hunch leads to $1 million lottery win

56-year-old retired teacher shares the wealth

By Cindy Ballance
Senior Reporter

Kathy Laboret had a hunch she should buy a few scratch tickets on her way into Calgary.
That hunch turned into a $1 million lottery win.
Laboret, a long-time Black Diamond resident, was heading into Calgary to meet her sister last week when she decided to stop for fuel at Hilltop Shell in Okotoks.
“Every now and again I get a feeling like I should buy a ticket,” said Laboret on Monday. “I’d like to think it was the feeling, but I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Laboret purchased three Scratch ‘n’ Win tickets and her hunch led to the top prize on Extravaganza.
After scratching the tickets later that evening, on the third ticket Laboret uncovered three $1-million prize amounts on Game 1.
Her first thought was that she had mistaken the rules of the game.
“I thought okay, yeah, now that I have three (prize amounts) they probably want four,” said the former Okotoks Junior High School teacher.
Laboret and her sister quickly verified the win at the lottery counter and determined that in fact she was a million dollar winner.
“We both had to keep counting the 0’s,” said Laboret.
“I was in disbelief,” said her husband Bryant who received a phone call from his wife relaying the winning tale.
The couple drove to St. Albert the next day to collect their winnings. Laboret is the first Albertan to win the top prize in the game.
“It was just an incredible feeling to be a millionaire for a little while,” said Laboret.
“It takes a long time for it to soak in. You get that great feeling when you win something, but I don’t think the $1 million sunk in until we went to St. Albert.”
After collecting their winnings, the couple knew exactly what they would do with the money — give it away.
Laboret said she was able to pay off a few debts and save a little for herself, but the majority of the money went to her four grown children and some to charity.
“That was absolutely the best feeling,” said Laboret of giving the money away. “Having the million dollars was a great feeling for a while, but I think the important thing is what you do with it.”
“I have never been able to do that, give away money and not worry. It is truly a unique and incredible feeling to be able to do that,” Laboret continued.
Her husband agreed. “There is a whole pile of people out there less fortunate than we have been. It was nice to get the million dollars, but it was even better to be able to give it away,” he said.
Giving the money away is a great testament to the couple’s generosity as the win came at a time when they needed it most.
The Laborets home burned down this spring and the couple have been living in their motorhome at the Black Diamond campground ever since.
“I am excited that we got this (the money) after the fire,” said Laboret. “This just goes a long way to helping us move on.”
The couple has been able to put some money away for themselves and plan to upgrade there motorhome and do some travelling.
They own some property outside of Black Diamond and may decide to rebuild their home.
But for now, Laboret and her husband are just basking in the afterglow of their windfall.