Edmonton resident Rhonda Starkell won $1 million in a Lotto 649 draw after checking her numbers during a sleepless night. She went to the Western Canada Lottery Corporation website at 2:30 a.m. and then woke her partner to share the news.

“I went onto WCLC’s website and was checking my numbers and then woke up my partner and said, ‘I think I just won the lottery’,” Starkell said in a media release. She tried to return to sleep but could not, saying, “I was in complete shock.”

The win came on the same day as the birthdays of Starkell’s late father and her grandson, making the occasion especially memorable. She is still processing the prize and deciding what to do with the money, but has identified several priorities.

“Pay off the mortgage, get a new vehicle, invest the money, and maybe take a trip to Holland (Netherlands) and Greece,” Starkell said. She bought the winning ticket at Dollar Drug Mart, at 13211, 132 St., in Edmonton.

The Edmonton Journal also noted other Western Canadian lottery stories, including a Sherwood Park family that won big from Western 6-49 and a local legal professional who won $5 million from Lotto 6/49.

The publication invited readers to bookmark EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com and sign up for newsletters. It also promoted digital subscriptions, which provide unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites.

Based on reporting by Edmonton Journal.