Hiawatha Horse Park owner/operator Jim Henderson is used to seeing people reap the benefits of a big reward. Long odds and hefty exotics tend to lead to big payoffs at the track, but a chance wager of a different kind has netted the Brigden, Ont. resident quite the windfall.

Multiple mainstream media reports have explained that Henderson has won the most recent Bluewater Health Foundation Dream Home Lottery.

A screen grab from the Bluewater Health Foundation website indicating that Jim Henderson is the Dream Home Lottery’s grand prize winner

Jim’s sister, Barb, had bought the winning ticket and had given it to her brother as a gift. Barb, a former hospital worker, has been purchasing tickets for the grand prize draw ever since it started. She’s been giving the tickets to family members as gifts.

What. A. Gift.

The hospital foundation has been conducting the home lottery for 24 years now. The most recent edition of the draw has generated roughly $300,000 – capital that is earmarked toward a million-dollar upgrade of mammogram-related equipment at Bluewater Health.

The home, which is valued at just under $600,000, comes complete with furnishings, appliances and electronics. Jim has the option of either taking possession of the home or receiving $350,000 instead. Jim has said that he and his sister have yet to decide what option they are going to choose.

Jim Henerson, pictured inside the ‘dream home’ (Handout image courtesy The Sarnia Observer)

After having toured the home for the first time on Friday (March 1), Jim was quoted as saying that the unexpected win “was a nice surprise.”

Kathy Alexander, the hospital foundation’s executive director, has explained that the most recent lottery was an overwhelming success. “It was our most successful Dream Home Lottery to date,” she said.

(With files from The Sarnia Observer and Blackburn News)