A remarkable turn of events unfolded for a Brisbane mother when she secured the third-largest lottery prize in Australian history, amounting to A$100 million (approximately $109 million). In a twist of fate, the winner initially feared she had lost her ticket, which almost led to a missed opportunity on this life-changing prize.
A Fortunate Coincidence
The excitement around a mystery winner in Queensland encouraged the Brisbane resident to search for her Powerball ticket in her car’s glovebox. “It’s a funny story,” she admitted during a press conference. “At the start of the year, I just had this strange feeling I was going to win a major lottery prize.” Despite her family’s skepticism, she bought a ticket, believing that fortune was on her side.
“I was shopping for my birthday and thought, why not purchase a Powerball ticket?” she explained. However, her luck nearly took a detour when she thought she had left the ticket behind after leaving the store. “I had to pull over on the way home because I thought I had lost it,” she added. Thankfully, she found the ticket and placed it safely in her glovebox, forgetting about it until the winning announcement.
Shocked by the Win
The news of the life-altering win rendered the mother and her family in “complete shock.” She expressed her disbelief, stating, “I’m scared to breathe in case this isn’t real.” Although she couldn’t immediately fathom how to spend her newfound wealth, she acknowledged the significant lifestyle changes it could bring. “We’ve worked so hard our whole lives for everything we’ve had, and we really don’t live a lavish lifestyle,” she reflected.
Future Plans and travels
When asked about her plans following the monumental win, she mentioned her desire to take some time to absorb what had happened before making any definitive decisions. “We’d like to do some travelling, maybe a family holiday somewhere,” she shared. Destinations on her wish list include New Zealand and Fiji, which have always been a dream for her family.
With this win marking only the sixth instance where a player has claimed a lottery prize of A$100 million or more, the odds of hitting all seven numbers along with the Powerball are a staggering one in 134,490,400, as reported by Gambler’s Help and The Lott. The winning numbers announced in draw 1475 were 16, 24, 11, 4, 10, 18, 23, and the Powerball number was six.
In addition to the A$100 million winner, the draw also saw over three million winnings spread across various divisions, totaling A$67,789,677.20 (around $74 million), further highlighting the excitement generated by the night’s draw.