Man who won $50 million lottery continues his 4:30 am work shifts for the most wholesome reason

The true test of a person's character happens when they have the world at their feet and refuses to let it get to their head. Pierre Richer from Canada passed this test with flying colors when he chose to not leave everyone he knew behind and start a new life after being suddenly blessed with $50 million, reports My Modern Met. After winning a lottery so big, everyone expected Richer to give up everything, especially his gruesome job and start a new life. On the contrary, he continued to work in the same position, simply to not put his bosses and co-workers through any kind of trouble.

Richer never intended to enter, let alone win the lottery. It all happened by chance. He was with his daughter, buying ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner. “With the pie crust being on sale at the Super C, my daughter went in to get it and I got the ticket,” says Richer. If the pie crust was not on sale, Richer would never have stopped and brought the tickets. He didn't even expect anything to come out of it. It was his daughter who checked the results on the Lotto app. After seeing her father's number, she screamed with excitement and told her mother, who was also elated. Richer though, was not particularly moved. “I walked into the room and they told me,” recalls Richer. “I said ‘OK,' and then walked out.”

Richer is employed as a driver and head of shipping at a catering company. Due to the nature of his work, he has to wake up at 4:30 a.m. every day to fulfill his responsibilities. It is not easy for him to continue the routine daily, especially since he is in his 60s. Therefore, when he won the lottery, many expected him to leave his job but he persisted because of the bonds he had forged at his job. He did not want the company, especially his coworkers, to suffer because of his absence.

“I can’t leave them alone in the dark. Without me there, the shipping department is not feasible,” Richer shared at a press conference held by Loto-Québec. Though he understood the importance of money, his priority was always his relationships.

Richer does have some plans in regards to the money. He wants to use it to fulfill his lifelong dream of owning a house on the outskirts of Montreal. He also wants to put some of it into updating his car and going on a vacation with his family. On the work front, he does eventually want to take some time off when he believes his coworkers will be able to manage without him, but retirement is not on the cards. He wants to get on with his life, just like before, when he was not a millionaire. “I feel the same,” he says, “Nothing has changed.” He is also using the money from the lottery to help other families in need. Several of the people impacted by him posted about the aid on Facebook. Catherine Burke shared how his donation saved her father's life, while Lewis Hudon was able to clear all his debts because of Richer's favor.

Though this story of winning the lottery might seem like a fairytale to many people, it turns out that such a dream does become a reality for some. According to Wis 10, Richard Lustig from Florida had lady luck shine on him seven times. His lottery wins completely changed his life, allowing him to buy a house and a sports car that he always wanted with his mother. ABC News shared how Kenneth J. Stokes won twice in the same lottery. His first winning was through his lottery season ticket and the second one was through the ticket he bought on his own, giving him $546,000 in cash prizes.