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Burnaby man collects $500K — the third local major lottery winner in four weeks

Yuk Fai To is planning a cruise with his wife after claiming the half-million Lotto Max prize.
Yuk-Fai-To-bby-lotto
Yuk Fai To is the latest Burnaby lottery winner.

Maybe there's something in the water. 

For the third time in less than two months, a Burnaby resident was announced as the winner of a major lottery jackpot.

This time, it's Yuk Fai To after taking home $500,000 from the Lotto Max draw on June 3 in sharing a $1-million Maxmillions prize with another player from the prairies. 

"I'm very happy and surprised. It's wonderful," he said in a BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) news release today (July 14).

Fai To purchased and checked his winning ticket at the Shefield Express in Metropolis at Metrotown. 

"I found out I won when I was at the store and was very surprised. The first person I was most excited to tell I won was my wife. She was super excited for me!" 

Fai To is planning to take his wife on a cruise, as well as helping his family. 

On June 29, it was announced Burnaby resident Maria Hecimovic won $1 million playing Lotto 6/49. 

She discovered she had won the June 15 draw while she was getting ready for work by checking her phone. 

"I thought I was hallucinating," Hecimovic said in a separate statement from BCLC.

"I also took the ticket to a Circle K ticket kiosk to double check."

Hecimovic bought her winning ticket at the Safeway on Hastings and Willingdon in Burnaby. 

Eight days earlier, on June 21, it was revealed that Trang Dang of Burnaby had won almost $11 million, also through Lotto 6/49. 

At exactly $10,968,527.90, she bought the ticket from the Safeway on McBride Avenue in New Westminster, explaining she did so while waiting for a friend who was running late for a dinner meet-up. 

Dang made the last-minute decision to buy a lottery ticket while she was shopping for groceries. 

"I was at home when I found out I won," she explains in a news release from the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC).

"I checked the draw results and questioned if these were the right numbers. I couldn't sleep that night!" 

Dang says she plans to search for a more comfortable home and hopes to travel to Spain, France and Italy.