Vincentian wins CAN$7m. off dead brother’s lotto ticket numbers

Some may say its luck, but the Vincentian-born winner of a multi-million dollar lottery in Canada believes it was divine intervention.{{more}}

Orbiton Ollivierre, who once lived in Bequia cashed a cheque last Friday for CAN $7 million after winning the November 14 North American lottery draw.

Ironically, the numbers he played were found on an old lottery ticket in the wallet of his deceased brother, Elvis Ollivierre. Elvis lost his life in an accident on October 31, 2006, after falling from a seven-storey apartment building.

“I was the one who was supposed to pick him up at seven o’clock that night. I was calling him and I never got an answer. I never found out he had an accident until the next morning,” said Ollivierre, who migrated to Canada in 1993.

“On October 31 this year I was at his grave and I was burning some candles and doing some reading and I experienced some spiritual connection,” Ollivierre said.

He said two months before the third anniversary of his death he and his sister were going through Elvis’ belongings in an attempt to get some documents.

“I found his wallet and was looking at his picture and I found this lottery ticket. As soon as I found the ticket I knew that he wanted me to find that ticket. I told my sister from that day I am going to start playing it…I started playing that ticket religiously,” said Ollivierre. He said prior to finding the ticket he was playing another lottery, but that was closed.

The dispatcher, who works on a construction site, said he bought the ticket on November 14 for the night’s draw but never checked the ticket until the following Wednesday.

SEARCHLIGHT first learnt of Ollivierre’s winning from the Toronto Sun in an article written by journalist Don Peat, who provided a contact number for the Vincentian.

“Normally I replay the same ticket. If I win five dollars I replay it. If I win nothing I replay it. Wednesday there was another draw so at lunch time I went to a convenient store and checked the ticket at a machine. I saw it said ‘Big Winner’ and I saw five digits,” said Ollivierre, noting that he was thinking $7, 000.

“I was excited because I thought this can help to pay some of the bills that have been burdening me for the past few months,” Ollivierre added.

“I told the cashier ‘Can you replay this for me?’,” Ollivierre recalled of the night he went to buy a new ticket. “I know it’s $7, 000 win. I know I have to take it to the lottery board but I just wanna replay it.”

However, the machine held the ticket and a call came in from the head office notifying him of the win.

The rest is history.

Ollivierre said his wife Angela Ford-Ollivierre, and their daughter screamed for joy that night when he told them that they were now millionaires.

Ollivierre plans to use the money to take care of immediate bills as well as purchasing a home. He is also in the process of discussing with three major banks how he can invest his windfall. He is hoping to share some of the money with Elvis’ children and other relatives.