Emotional call to Dream Home Lottery Winner
Mary VanDenBerge of Petrolia, Ont. had a feeling she’s was going to get the winning call from the Dream Home Lottery Wednesday morning.
“I’ve got to bring my phone to the gym, because they are going to call me, I know it,” she told Scott Fortnum, CEO of the London Children’s Health Foundation during the winning call.
“I told my daughter if the phone rings we have to answer it because we are headed to London.”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the $1.8-million home in Talbotville, Ont. when an overwhelmed VanDenBerge, a mother of two and grandmother of four told her story on the call.
“We’ve been supporting this since the beginning,” said VanDenBerge. “My husband I always supported it and he passed away from cancer a year and a half ago. Your hospital helped us so much.”
VanDenBerge was immediately hopping in the car with her one daughter to make the drive to Talbotville.
John McFarlane, CEO and President of London Health Sciences Foundation, Scott Fortnum, President/CEO of Children’s Health Foundation, Michelle Campbell, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation President and CEO, Kris Kornelsen MNP. Dec. 21, 2022. (Reta Ismail/CTV News London)
The emotional call turned to joy when she was told she’s potentially either a millionaire or the winner of a new home.
“Holy S%#t,” laughed VanDenBerge.
“She really caught me she talked about losing her husband a year and a half ago,” said Fortnum. “It does change people’s lives and we’re changing thousands of lives through the hospital.”
St. Joseph’s Health Care (SJHC) will use the funds from the lottery to acquire C-Arm Fluoroscopy units.
“Those are specialized imaging units in our 11 surgical suites at St. Joseph’s Hospital,” said Michelle Campbell, CEO of SJHC. “They help the surgeon see the surgical field in a different way in real time during the surgery. That kind of technology is expensive but it’s programs like the Dream Lottery that helps us acquire that technology.”
The other winners Wednesday include:
- 50/50 winner Donna Strangio of London, Ont. ($625,630)
- Grand Prize Two winner Terri Foris, of Woodstock, Ont. (2023 BMW X5 or $100,000 cash)
- Grand Prize Three Ellen Brown of London, Ont. (Around the world trip or $50,000)
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