Hamilton grandma thought she won $25K. Her prize was much, much more

Lotto winner Esmeraldina Brandao picked the last Instant Crossword Deluxe ticket on display at Fortino's on Centennial Parkway.

Tenant."

Bake."

East."

The Hamilton grandmother kept scratching, and kept uncovering more words."

I thought I won $25,000 at first," Brandao said, as she was claiming her winnings at OLGs Toronto prize centre.

In fact, she won a $250,000 top prize.

Brandao was so nervous after her big win, she couldn't sleep.

I feel very lucky," she said.

Asked what she was going to do with her winnings, Brandao said my daughters and granddaughters are the most important thing to me, so we are going to travel to Portugal together."

Jeremy Kemeny is a Hamilton-based web editor at The Spectator. Reach him via email: jkemeny@thespec.com