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HAY RIVER - A Hay River family is sharing in a recent gigantic lottery jackpot.

On Feb. 21, the parents of Karla Carter won one-quarter of a $50,298,932 jackpot - the second largest first prize in the lottery's history.

Her parents' share works out to a cool $12,574,733.

Karla and Mike Carter of Hay River - in this family photo with their sons Alex, centre left, and Nathan - will receive a share of a Lotto 6-49 jackpot without even buying a ticket. Karla's parents in Ontario won $12.5 million on Feb. 21. - photo courtesy of Karla Carter

Carter declined to say how much she and her husband, Mike, will be receiving.

"We have no worries," she said, adding things like mortgage payments and their two young sons' education will be taken care of.

"Those sorts of daily concerns aren't stressful anymore," she said. Carter said her parents - Martin and Marlene Neva of Lively, Ont. - called her on the Saturday night of the draw with news of the win.

However, she missed the first call because she was heading back to town from a Fort Smith hockey tournament. When she got home, there was a message on her answering machine to give her parents a call.

Carter said her father's voice on the answering machine had a happy sound to it, and she recalled thinking, "OK, that doesn't sound like someone died." Before she called her parents, they had reached her husband on his cell phone. She was told the good news by her parents as her husband listened to her by cell phone.

"He wanted to hear my reaction," she said.

Carter said her first reaction was to think her parents were kidding,

However, she said her father is a straightforward retired accountant who doesn't kid around a lot.

At the time of the call, her parents didn't know there were four winners of the jackpot, and they thought they might possibly have won the whole top prize, then estimated at $48 million. Carter said that much money would have been almost inconceivable, and $12.5 million is a great prize.

"It's still lovely," she said.

Carter said her father encouraged her and her husband to keep working despite the windfall.

"He believes the work ethic is still valuable," she said.

Carter said that is fine, since she likes her job as a consultant and her husband is also happy as an RCMP officer.

Although she has now shared in the second-largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history, Carter said she doesn't buy lottery tickets.

"I don't feel that lucky," she said. "It's not going to happen to me."

Her parents play every week. Carter said friends and acquaintances in Hay River have been genuinely excited and happy for the family's good fortune.