Jeff Collins has been a realtor in the Rimbey area for the past 30 or so years, and a long time supporter of the STARS Air Ambulance by purchasing tickets for their annual lottery.

Well, this year STARS paid Collins back tenfold.

Collins was announced as the winner of the $1.1 million Calgary show home known as "The Stanley", a 2,680 square foot home in SW Calgary. 

He wasn't the only Central Albertan to win big this year either: Central Albertans win big in this years STARS Lottery

He said at first, he thought one of his friends was playing a prank on him, even though April fools was the day before. 

"I was having a nap after having lunch. It's part of my regular routine now with my recovery and stuff like that from my stroke. So my wife thought it was a crank call or a telemarketer or something like that, but the lady was fairly adamant that she was officially from STARS and she needed to talk to me. She (my wife) said I could wake him up for this. So I was just kind of just coming around you know, waking up when she told me, she said we got you down as our grand prize winner. and I said, oh, well that's pretty cool! I wasn't even sure what that was, I had forgotten about it."

He said his experience with show homes, as well as a medical emergency a few years ago that almost had him make use of STARS, adds a little irony to the situation.  

"I come within a whisker myself a couple of years ago of riding in the STARS helicopter cause I had a major stroke, so it kind of has a soft spot in my heart... they ended up sending me by ground transportation but it was close. They were gonna send me by STARS but I believe they were busy at the time so they felt like I could make it to Calgary from Red Deer in ground transportation, which I did."

A supporter of the STARS Lottery for the past 20 years, Collins says he's won a sports store gift card and a DVD player in the past, but this win certainly tops them all.

Collins and his wife had to wait until this week before they were able to head down to Calgary and check out the home. 

The real estate agent says they are planning on selling the dream home, as they have no plans to leave the life they've created in Rimbey with their kids and grandkids.

Photos courtesy of Shannon Collins.