‘I want to buy a castle, but my wife won't let me': Newmarket lotto winner overjoyed with $65M windfall

Hamilton Spectator

23-05-2025

A Newmarket wife was having none of her husband's early morning shenanigans when he recently tried to rouse her from slumber.
'Honey, do you want to kiss a millionaire?' Mark Hanley asked his wife recently.
'She sternly said, 'No,' and tried to go back to sleep.'
Hanley was up early that morning, enjoying his breakfast, when he decided to check a Lotto Max ticket from the March 28 draw.
He usually checks the lotto numbers one by one on
OLG.ca
.
After realizing he had matched the first three, he started to pay closer attention. Numbers four, five, six and seven also matched. But it didn't dawn on him yet that he'd won.
'I've been playing the lottery for 30 years, and when I counted all seven numbers, I was disappointed that I didn't match the bonus number,' Hanley said in an Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. press release. 'Then I realized there are only seven numbers with Lotto Max, and I got the big one! When I saw there was only one winner and the jackpot was $65 million, I started jumping for joy, saying, 'Touchdown!''
That was when he debated waking his wife.
'Is this important enough to wake up my wife, who loves her sleep?' he thought to himself.
When his first humorous attempt to wake her failed, Hanley convinced his wife to get out of bed and meet him downstairs so he could show her his winning ticket.
'She looked at the ticket and thought, 'So what …?' So, I told her to go take a shower to fully wake up. When she came back, the reality of this win started to settle in, and she began crying tears of joy.'
The retired business software analyst and his wife then decided to tell their grown children the news face to face, but may have left too much to the imagination.
'We called to make sure they were home, and I said to my wife, 'Don't tell them anything — just say we're coming over.''
As his wife made the call, she began crying again.
'She said, 'We're coming to see you … I can't tell you why … but everything's all right,'' Hanley said, but realized it sounded like they'd be delivering bad news. 'Oh good, now they think someone died.'
As the couple pulled up to the house to visit their children, Hanley's wife asked if he'd hold her coffee so her hands would be free to give them a hug.
'She started to cry again,' he added.
But the kids were happy when they learned the true purpose behind the surprise visit.
'I felt so good to tell them, and it's a dream come true to now be able to provide for them in so many incredible ways.'
Hanley had more surprises in mind to spring the news on immediate family members with a portion of his windfall.
'They're probably not going to believe it at first because you don't expect someone to suddenly come out of the blue and give you a gift like this.'
Travel is now also on Hanley's itinerary.
'I want to travel the world for its food! I want to go to Italy, and especially France. I love French bread, French wine, and oh my, French cheese!'
He also mentioned another aspiration that may be out of reach.
'I want to buy a castle, but my wife won't let me,' he said with a laugh.
Hanley honestly said it would take some time before the reality of hitting the Lotto Max jackpot truly sinks in.
'The Lotto Max commercials say, 'Dream Bigger,' but I still haven't quite gotten that in my head. I always dreamt of winning a couple of million, but this amount is just baffling. I just feel so grateful and blessed that this win came my way.'
The winning ticket was purchased at
New Town Variety on Yonge Street
in Newmarket.