Yahoo Finance Saskatoon family 'blessed' with home lottery win
Just as they were getting home from Royal University Hospital (RUH) where their daughter was being treated, Crystal and Emil Hyman got a call they weren't expecting.
"I was screaming and hollering in my room and from there it was crazy," Crystal told CBC News.
The call she answered was from the Saskatoon Hospital Home Lottery, saying she had won the $1.6 million show home.
The news couldn't have come at better time. The Hymans youngest daughter Shaylin has been in and out of RUH Saskatoon after she was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two. While undergoing chemotherapy, she had a stroke.
"And from that doctors said she had brain damage," Crystal said.
Shaylin improving month by month
But she's been back in treatment and doctors say Shaylin is in remission. Her parents said she's getting better every month.
However, the curvature in her spine brings a whole new set of challenges for the family.
But there's hope. While the new home doesn't cure the family of its illnesses, it does shore up a crucial part of their life.
It means having enough bedrooms for everyone in the family and a greater sense of financial security for the future.
"In some ways it will change our life but we want to keep working and doing our everyday thing but it's nice to know that one piece is financially secure," Emil said. "It's big, beautiful, the builders did a really good job — we're blessed."
At first when Crystal heard it was the hospital calling, she said she thought it was bad news about Shaylin, who was just in to see doctors ahead of a scheduled surgery next week. But it was a good news call to tell her family about their new home.
Long-time supporters of hospital lottery
The Hymans have purchased Hospital Home Lottery tickets for the past four years, mostly because of all the work they do with Shaylin.
With two surgeries to help the young girl with her scoliosis, with the future health of their daughter uncertain at the moment, Crystal and Emil can barely grasp the news about their new home.
Other winners
Meanwhile, other lottery ticket purchasers are celebrating, too.
Arnold Baron from Lloydminster, Sask., won the hospital's 50/50 draw taking home $369,945, while Walter Hancock from Swift Current won the Early Bird prize, a 2017 Porsche Macan S Plus and a Tahiti vacation or $75,000.
