Gut feeling leads to lottery luck
Toonie toss win results in family reunion
In late April, Humaro (also known as Omar) Tomlin had an amazing stroke of luck — good enough to put him on a plane for his home island of Jamaica.
Tomlin, who came to Nova Scotia as a seasonal worker, has been gardening for Brian Twohey, of Grand Pre, for the past four years. Married and settled near Halifax, he has been trying to raise enough money to bring his two sons to Canada.
While he is not a high wage earner, the paper work was well underway.
Recently, Tomlin had a feeling about the Wolfville Mud Creek Rotary Club's 50/50
Toonie Toss. He called Twohey and asked him to go to the Grand Pre Convenience Store and put five toonies in the draw for April 25.
Twohey went in that day just before the toonies were picked up at the store. Just three hours later, one of Omar's toonies was pulled as the winner. He won $26,268 and now has enough cash to bring his family to Canada.
This windfall Tomlin termed a “God send.”
Rotarian John MacNeil noted that the timing of Tomlin's win added to the size of his prize.
“The Nova Scotia Gaming Commission had not allowed
roll overs during the pandemic,” he said. “So, a lot of people quit pre-pay.”
Due to the return of roll overs, Tomlin won roughly an extra $10,000.
According to Twohey, his connection with Tomlin
began about a dozen years ago through Tomlin's wife, Virginia Lee, who is landscape gardener.
He said Tomlin works very hard.
So when he called and said he had a feeling about the toonie toss, Twohey, who isn't a lottery fan, was happy to take five toonies into the village store.
He added that Tomlin's two sons, aged 16 and 19, will go to school and work with their father.
“It was such a fluke,” Twohey suggested, “but he had an instinct.”
Two local charities are also benefitting from the win. Tomlin selected Big Brothers/ Big Sisters and Autism Nova Scotia.