A Brisbane mum from Aspley has become one of Australia’s biggest lottery winners, taking home the entire $100 million Powerball jackpot in Thursday night’s draw. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, almost lost the winning ticket before realising her life-changing fortune.
The mum shared that she purchased the unregistered ticket on a whim while shopping, intending to treat herself for her upcoming birthday. After buying it, she placed the ticket in her car’s glovebox and nearly forgot about it. It wasn’t until the next morning, after hearing about a mystery winner in her area, that she decided to check her ticket.
“It’s a funny story. At the start of the year, I had a really strange feeling I was going to win a major lottery prize,” she revealed. “I told my parents about it, and they said, ‘Don’t be crazy,’ but I just had this strong feeling.”
The mum almost lost the ticket after leaving it in her car overnight. She recalled, “I had to pull over on the way home from the shops because I thought I had left it there.” Fortunately, the ticket was safe in her glovebox, where she eventually found it the next morning.
When she finally checked the numbers, she was in disbelief. “I’m scared to breathe in case this isn’t real. We’re in complete shock,” she said.
The mum is now not only Queensland’s biggest lottery winner but also the third-biggest lottery winner in Australian history. Despite her newfound wealth, she remains humble and uncertain about how she will spend the money. “We don’t even know what’s next. We’ve worked so hard our whole lives for everything we’ve had, and we really don’t live a lavish lifestyle,” she said.
The Brisbane winner mentioned that she and her family might use some of the money for travel, with New Zealand and Fiji being dream destinations. “It’s so weird. I can’t even say it out loud right now!” she added.
The winning ticket was purchased at Nextra Chermside Newsagency, located in Westfield Chermside. Shannon Hickey, the owner of the newsagency, expressed his excitement over the win, noting that his store has a history of selling winning tickets. “It’s so exciting! We’ve had so many division one wins over the years. We counted up the other day and realised we’d sold division one winning tickets worth more than $64 million. Now we’ve sold over $164 million!” he said.
With this win, the Nextra Chermside Newsagency has solidified its reputation as one of Australia’s luckiest lottery outlets. “Congratulations to our winners. We wish them all the very best with their prize,” Hickey added.
The winning numbers in Powerball draw 1475 were 16, 24, 11, 4, 10, 18, and 23, with the Powerball number being 6. The Brisbane woman was the sole division one winner.
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