Two times lucky: Regina resident wins second lottery home
REGINA Six years ago, Dwayne Prystupa thought it was a practical joke when he was told he’d won the STARS Lottery show home.
There was a feeling of déjà vu on Thursday as he received a phone call from his brother-in-law, who broke the news that Prystupa had won the 2018 Hospitals of Regina Foundation home lottery.
“He told me I won it and I didn’t believe him, and he rewound it on TV so he was playing it over the phone to me, so that’s how I found out,” Prystupa said Friday, standing in the living room of the grand prize show home — his family’s new house, should they choose to live here.
In 2012, they opted to stay close to family in their northwest Regina home, rather than move.
“We’re still undecided if we’ll stay there or if we will sell,” said Prystupa, with wife Kristen and daughters Lexa, 10, and Piper, 2, by his side.
“You figure it’s an easy decision and then you walk through it and you see everything and it definitely makes it a little bit tougher, so we’ve got a lot of thinking to do ahead.”
Lexa said she likes both houses, although she sees the appeal of the basement gym in this new home.
Currently equipped with a weight machine, treadmill and stationary bike, she saw the potential of filling the room with mats to practise jiu-jitsu.
The Hospitals of Regina Foundation lottery sold 52,000 tickets, of which Prystupa bought six. Of all the hundreds of prizes he could have won — ranging from a golf package to an iPad to a foosball table — he won the house again.
“I’m definitely not going to return it back. We’ll definitely take it,” he said with a laugh.
Their last big win changed their lives “tremendously.” The family was able to plan for retirement with the proceeds of selling that $1.3-million home.
Prystupa said he will continue to support the lotteries, which are for “a great cause.” Having won two grand prizes, Prystupa said he has always won a little something, whether it’s $1,000 cash prize or a Bose speaker.
“You want to keep supporting the causes these go to. So that’s what we do it for and lightning struck twice,” he said.
Prystupa wasn’t the only lucky one at Friday’s announcement.
For buying her ticket in advance of the early-bird deadline, Bernice Shearer could have won a 2018 Corvette and a trip to Grand Cayman — but she opted instead for $90,000 cash.
“I don’t drive,” said Bernice, laughing. “I took the money.”
Putting a positive end to a bad week, Dan McGee was awarded a cheque for $409,875 as winner of the 50/50 add-on.
McGee was an assistant coach of the University of Regina Cougars wrestling teams, which were cancelled along with the men’s volleyball program on Monday.
“That’s just kind of bittersweet ... It’s good timing, I guess,” said McGee, who is unsure what, if any, severance he will receive from the UofR.
“I haven’t really thought about what I’m going to do with the (prize) money, but my life will be invested in wrestling, so it’ll be part of it for sure.”