WINNIPEG – A very lucky Winnipegger is $100,000 richer after a recent lottery win but the real story is how she lost and then found the winning ticket.

Louise Berard forgot her change purse at the St. Boniface Post Office in early March and it sat there in the lost and found for a month and a half. Until a postal worker, while cleaning up, checked inside the purse and found $1.10 and a Western Max ticket.

Andre Philippot decided to check the ticket and it turns out it was a big winner. Philippot talked to her fellow employees and the search was on for the rightful owner.

Berard, a regular at the post office, was asked if she had lost a change purse. She said yes and described it and the rest is now history.

“I started to cry, I couldn’t believe it,” Berard recalled. “It still chokes me up.” The 82 year old plans to use the money for home repairs including a new paint job.

This is a good reminder to always sign your name on the back of lottery tickets as soon after you buy them as possible.