“Total disbelief – until the phone rang again.”  “Total disbelief – until the phone rang again.” 

When Pamela Vair purchased her first Heart & Stroke Lottery ticket in 2007, she did so because the cause was close to her heart: “Decades ago, my father died from sudden cardiac arrest. Many of my male cousins have had heart attacks. A few years ago, I had a small Transient Ischemic Attack – also called a mini stroke – when the flow of blood to your brain gets cut off for a short while. Last summer, my husband had very successful aortic valve replacement.”  

15 years and many tickets later, Pamela was relaxing in her easy chair after a busy trip to Toronto. The phone rang. When the Heart & Stroke representative told her husband that she was the winner of a 2021 Malibu 23 LSV watersport towboat worth over $219,000, she says: “I told my husband to hang up thinking it was a crank call. Fortunately, they called back…we were totally gob-smacked!”  

Opting for the $200,000 cash option, Pamela plans to: “share some of the winnings with our son and daughter, upgrade our older van, and support a few Owen Sound charities.”  

She adds: “If you’re not sure which lottery ticket to purchase, choose Heart & Stroke – it’s so much fun, there are great prizes…and it feels good knowing you’re supporting a wonderful cause.”