STARS Lottery unveils $1.5M grand prize home
For Tami Willson, Sept. 22, 2017, started off as a normal day — but with one buck from her horse, the course of that day, and her life, quickly changed.
A day of riding with friends ended with a traumatic brain injury. Willson doesn’t remember much of what happened from about an hour before the accident to about a week after, but she’s been told she was unconscious and her friends called 911. The operator dispatched STARS and the closest ambulance.
“Having STARS there was huge for us,” said Willson, who told her story to a crowd at the unveiling of the 2018 STARS Lottery show home in Greenbryre Estates.
The home is valued at more than $1.5 million, and is one of the lottery’s grand prizes. Other prizes include vacations, vehicles, cash and a ride for two on a STARS helicopter. The proceeds from ticket sales will go directly toward the operation of STARS in Saskatchewan.
“The nature of Saskatchewan, it’s so rural,” said STARS flight nurse Tracey Steel. “We spend our summers at the lakes or travelling; you just never know when you might need critical care.”
The highway crash involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team bus on April 6 was another instance when STARS played an important role in helping people get vital care.
“If you think about the last month, what happened, (Saskatchewan has) come together. (We’re) honoured to be part of that,” said Mike Lamacchia, vice-president of operations for STARS. “But the thing also is that this is what we do every day.”
Willson said before her accident, she knew seeing a STARS helicopter meant someone was in distress, but now it feels different. “Life can turn on a dime. It did in our family — it was just a regular day.”
This year’s early bird deadline for the STARS lottery is June 27. The final cutoff is July 19. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit starslotterysaskatchewan.ca.