Lady who won $6million lottery receives cheque from robot due to pandemic

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For the first time in Quebec's lottery history, a winner was handed a $6 million check from a life-sized robot built by college students, according to lottery officials.

After 25 years of playing the same lucky numbers, Guylaine Desjardins, a resident of Laurentides, won the July 1 Lotto 6/49 drawing. The new multimillionaire bought the lottery ticket at her workplace using the numbers 1, 12, 27, 30, 34, 49 and bonus number 35.

It took Desjardins several days to even realize she was holding on to a $6 million winning ticket, according to a news release from Loto-Quebec.

"Wait, let me go get my glasses!" she told lottery officials, when she realized she won.

It costs $3 a ticket to play the Canada-wide lottery game that started in 1982. The odds of hitting a jackpot are 1 in nearly 14 million, according to Loto-Quebec.

As health officals have mandated social distancing to curb the spread of the virus, Desjardins wasn't able to receive her prize money like the winners before her. Therefore, lottery officials got creative in finding a safe way to present the winner with her winnings.

In an effort to adhere to public health guidelines, the ceremony held on July 23 was streamed live on Facebook and those in attendance wore masks and maintained a physical distance all except for the virus immune robot named SARA.

SARA, an automated robotic assistance system, was built and designed in partnership by students at the University of Quebec's school of engineering and Centech, a non-profit that supports technology startups. Students from the engineering school's Walking Machine club controlled the robot at the prize payout ceremony held at the Casino.

"A great experience and a well-deserved outing for our robot who was alone since the beginning of the quarantine!" the Walking Machine club posted on Facebook.

The lucky winner plans to use her newfound riches to buy herself a three-wheel motorcycle, spoil her two sons and travel once pandemic safety guidelines are lifted.

The convenience store, Dépanneur Lacelle, where she worked and purchased her winning ticket will receive a 1% commission of $60,000, according to Loto-Quebec.