Trio shares $131,260 jackpot in Igniting Healthcare draw
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Three long-time friends from Tecumseh will split the $131,260 jackpot from the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation’s Igniting Healthcare 50/50 fundraiser.
Rick De Marse, Paul Ballay and James Desjardins are winners of the annual draw, which had a jackpot of more than $100,000 for the third consecutive year.
The Health Alliance’s Chatham and Wallaceburg hospitals will receive six electrocardiograph machines bought with the campaign proceeds.
“The new state-of-the-art ECG machines will help to provide more accurate diagnosis for cardiac patients,” Health Alliance president and CEO Lori Marshall said in a statement. “Although there can only be one prize winner, I believe everyone in Chatham-Kent wins when we are able to invest in our community’s health care.”
A total of 7,437 tickets were sold to raise $262,520, with half of the money going to the winners and half to the foundation.
The three winners are avid motorcyclists who have ridden through Chatham-Kent for years on what they call a “coast-to-coast” ride from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie. They purchased their winning $50 ticket June 15 from the foundation sales team in front of Bayside Brewing Co. in Erieau.
De Marse, whose family is originally from Wallaceburg and Tilbury, said his share of the money will let his wife join him in retirement. Ballay plans to buy a new car for his wife and Desjardins is still mulling over his plans.
