$250K lottery win for Thunder Bay family in scratch lottery draw

A Thunder Bay family is celebrating a big scratch ticket win.

The group of five won $250,000 with an instant Crossword deluxe ticket, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission announced on Friday.

"When I scanned our ticket on the OLG App, I thought we won $250.

It said Big Winner, so I thought, ‘I guess $250 is a big win.’ Until I took a closer look and saw all the zeroes," Johanna Silvestri said in an OLG news release.

"I immediately called my daughter, and I couldn’t speak when I was on the phone.

I was in shock." Silvestri and her four children — Adrianna Stefanato, Antonio Silvestri, Dario Silvestri, and Dianna Zyha — have been playing the lottery for five years.

It feels really nice – this is all new for us. It feels fantastic to play and win with my kids. It’s brought so much joy,” smiled Johanna.

The family members' plans for their share of the winnings include travel and helping with children's education.