Former welder, whose wife is recovering from cancer, says money was ‘a big headache’

An elderly couple who won around $11 million from a lottery ticket in Canada have given the money away to good causes and family, according to media reports.

Violet and Allen Large, who live in rural Nova Scotia, decided they had no need for the money and, four months after the Lotto 6-49 win, have given virtually all of it to churches, animal charities, hospitals and other groups, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported.

“What you’ve never had, you never miss,” Violet Large, 78, who is recovering from cancer, told the newspaper. “We have an old house, but we’re comfortable and we’re happy in it.”

“It made us feel good,” she said about giving the money away. “And there’s so much good being done with that money.”

Allen Large was a steel welder and his wife worked for cosmetics and chocolate companies during 30 years when they lived in Ontario. Married since 1974, they moved to Lower Truro in Nova Scotia in 1983, the paper said. ”We were pretty well set, not millionaires, but comfortable,” Allen Large, 75, told the Chronicle-Herald.

He described the lottery win as “a big headache,” the paper said, while his wife was concerned about “crooked people” who might try to exploit them.

“That money that we won was nothing — we have each other,” Allen Large told the newspaper, which said he choked back tears as he spoke.

Violet Allen had her final course of chemotherapy last week, the Chronicle-Herald said. “I’ve been very fortunate not to be bedfast,” she told the paper.

The Chronicle-Herald said after giving some money to family, the couple made donations to various good causes such as:

• the local fire department;
• churches;
• cemeteries;
• the Red Cross;
• the Salvation Army;
• hospitals in Truro and Halifax that treated Violet Large for cancer;
• and organizations that fight cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

“We’re the lucky ones. I have no complaints,” Violet Allen said.

The Globe and Mail newspaper said the couple lived in a 19th century home and drove a 13-year-old car and a five-year-old truck. They don’t have a microwave and are even without voicemail.

‘We’re not high-class people’
The news has already sparked headlines as far away as the U.K., but Violet Large said they had not given away the money for fame.

“We didn’t do it to get recognized. Why spend money when you already have everything you need?” she told the Globe and Mail Thursday.

“We haven’t spent even one penny on ourself. We’re not travelers and we’re not high-class people,” she added.

Her husband said they had “a little bit left, not that much.”

“But we had sufficient before. We worked for 30 years and put some away each year,” he added, according to the Globe and Mail.

The Toronto Star reported that the news of the couple’s generosity was the talk of the town.

“People who know them just know that’s the type of people they are — they’re just happy to have each other,” Lori Hingley, owner of the Shillelagh House restaurant in Lower Truro, told the paper.

“I think people are wondering why they didn’t keep any and treat themselves, but mostly people just think it’s great how generous they were,” she added.

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