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I was in just utter amazement

With her free spins she figured she’d get some of the $11.25 back, but she didn’t expect what she actually got.

“It spun for a while, then it re-triggered for 160 spins, which put the cash-value, at that point, up to $6,000,” Lima said. “I was in just utter amazement.”

With her heart pounding and breath quickening, Lima was so shocked she needed to go outside for a cigarette and a puff on her inhaler. By the time she returned, there was a large group of people crowded around her machine waiting for her. The machine re-triggered again, winning her more than $16,000. Again, she needed to go outside for some air.

“It just kept spinning and spinning and spinning,” Lima recalled. It spun so long she had time for another cigarette, to purchase some lottery tickets — trying to capitalize on the newfound luck — and to grab a coffee.

“I took my inhaler too many times, but I just felt like I have going to have a heart attack. I was so excited and so shocked,” Lima said. “When it finished, I had $33,858. It was a complete and utter shock.

“It was a mistake, a good mistake.”

With the winnings, Lima and her husband Jack Byford will be going on a trip, they are thinking Casino Rama Resort near Orillia, Ont., or Niagara Falls’ Fallsview Casino Resort.

Kingston Whig-Standard