More than a week after scoring a $200,000 lottery prize, a Mawson grandmother has finally discovered her win, admitting she came close to throwing out the winning ticket she received from her family for Christmas.
The Canberra player won the guaranteed first prize of $200,000 in Lucky Lotteries Mega Jackpot drawn on Friday 7 January.
The winning entry was purchased at Southlands Newsagency at Mawson.
This afternoon, an official from The Lott finally spoke to the winner who explained this was the first time she’d ever played Lucky Lotteries.
“I received this ticket as a gift from my family for Christmas,” she said.
“I only checked this Lucky Lotteries ticket the other day. I’d checked all the other lottery tickets they’d given me the week after Christmas, but I didn’t see this one in the envelope.
“The envelope was just sitting on the bench, and I thought I’d finally chuck it out the other day. But then I saw this ticket poking out the top, and so I thought I’d better check it first.
“I’d only won a few dollars on the other lottery tickets, so I wasn’t expecting to win much.
“I went onto The Lott website and looked at the draw and it had the winning number there.
“As soon as I saw the winning number, I knew I’d won. I didn’t even know what number was on my ticket, but I just had this feeling I’d won. It’s the wildest thing!
“Anyway, I grabbed the ticket and checked, and sure enough, I was right. It was my number!
“Honestly, when I saw it, I thought I’d gone mad! It’s crazy. Every time I’d look in the mirror that day, I’d have a huge smile on my face. I still do!
“I called my family and told them, and they almost screamed my ear off. They were so excited for me and couldn’t believe it.
“I’ll be sharing the prize with them for sure. The rest I will keep in the bank for the future.”
Support for anyone affected by gambling is available via gamblinghelponline.org.au or call 1800 858 858.
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