St. Charles couple — Frank and Nancy Trottier — have won more than $440,000 in the Health Sciences North Foundation monthly draw

The woman who took the phone call for the winning jackpot in Sudbury’s monthly hospital lottery at first didn’t believe it when the spokesman said he was calling from the Health Sciences North Foundation. 

Nancy Trottier kept saying no as Foundation spokesman Shane Gordon kept saying yes. It only sank in when Gordon confirmed to the woman “You bought your tickets yesterday afternoon, didn’t you?” 

A St. Charles couple, Frank and Nancy Trottier, are thinking that retirement is in the near future now that the couple has won more than $440,000 in the monthly 50/50 cash lottery draw for the Health Sciences North Foundation.

“Frank was telling me yesterday, ‘You’ve got to get your 50/50 tickets, you’ve got to get your 50/50 tickets’! We play every month and we darn near missed September, but I’m sure glad we got our tickets now,” said Nancy, in a news release issued by the HSN Foundation.

“I was at work when Nancy got the call and I didn’t have my phone on me, so imagine my surprise when she shows up at the job site to tell me that we won the grand prize,” said Frank. 

“I’ve been on the verge of retirement for a few years now, but I think my retired life started right when I found out we won,” he quickly added.

“This is going to make such a big difference for our family,” added Nancy. “We’ll be able to share some with our kids and grandkids, it’s just an incredible weight lifted off our shoulders.”

Part of the phone call to the winning family was recorded by HSN and is featured on YouTube. In the call, a disbelieving Nancy Trottier thought she was being pranked. 

Proceeds of the HSN 50/50 draw support priority medical equipment purchases, cutting-edge medical research, and the future health-care needs of Northeastern Ontario through Health Sciences North Foundation, said the release.

In 2023, proceeds from HSN 50/50 ticket sales were used to purchase a Gamma Camera for HSN’s Nuclear Medicine Department. Gamma cameras provide specialized oncology and cardiac imagery like bone scans. Health Sciences North relies on Gamma Cameras to provide more than 6,000 lifesaving scans per year, said the release.