By The Canadian Press
NEW WATERFORD - A woman who had just lost her job at a Cape Breton hardware store had a big change in her luck this weekend as she won a $10-million lottery jackpot.
"It's not hit yet, it really hasn't," Ferne Hawley told the ATV News on Sunday.
Hawley was in the kitchen of her modest home in New Waterford when her longtime partner Tom Young returned from walking the dogs and started checking his lottery numbers.
"I said did you win? He said 'No, but somebody told me that the winner is in New Waterford."
Hawley went to check her own numbers.
"I said, 'Oh my god, we won."'
Hawley had the only ticket in the country with all six numbers on Saturday night's Lotto 6-49 draw.
A clerk at a convenience store where Hawley bought the ticket said the woman was shaking with excitement as she confirmed the winning numbers.
"I broke down and cried for 20 minutes," said her partner Young. "I don't know, $10 million, wow."
"It's going to be a real culture shock. It's a whole, brand new world now, one we never lived in before with a whole lot of money."
It's the largest jackpot win for Atlantic Canadians in 2004.
Hawley said she had recently lost her job at a local hardware store.
Young said the couple, who have five children between them, will make sure they got some advice on how to use their new money, but they're already thinking about buying a new house and vehicles.
The couple will be in Moncton, N.B., on Tuesday to pick up their multimillion-dollar cheque.
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