Norwegian Woman Wins Lottery Three Times

Norwegian Woman Wins Lottery Three Times

Hege Jeanette Oksnes, who works selling hot dogs at a gas station, might be the luckiest person on the world. So far, every time this 29-year-old mom of three has a baby, a family member hits the Norwegian lotto jackpot.

In 2006, Oksnes's father Leif, 58, won 4.2 million kroner ($718,000) betting on the national lottery the day before Oksnes gave birth to her first child. Three years later, she herself won 8.2 million kroner ($1.4 million)--again on the day before she had her second baby.

On Saturday, her 19-year-old brother, Tord, nailed the triple win by landing a whopping 12.2 million kroner ($2.1 million) shortly after her third baby was born. "I was shocked," Tord told Shine in an interview. "I didn't believe it." The teenager, who was informed by telephone, asked the lottery representative to send him a photograph of the computer readout of the winning number.

Tord says his family also thought it was a practical joke. "Because three family members won, they didn't even believe me until I showed them my bank account on Monday." His sister reportedly described the lucrative coincidence as "insane." She added, "We don't even play the lottery that often."

The family says they didn't base their choices on any special numbers such as birth dates and that the tickets were spat out randomly by machines. Tord says, "Everybody is joking that she has to have 10 more babies." Although Oksnes's three other brothers are watching her golden belly closely, she and her husband don't plan on expanding their brood. "My husband says we have enough money now," she joked.

What are the odds of such a trifecta? A representative from Norsk Tipping AS, the national lottery, said they were planning on running the numbers. They have seen cases of one person winning twice, but never three family members all hitting the jackpot.

Despite the family's rather stratospheric luck, Tord tells Shine, "We have to keep our feet on the Earth." He says he plans on staying in school and saving the money, and his sister will return to work after her maternity leave.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday September 29 2012, 5:16 AM EDT. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0