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From fresh flowers and upgrading from cheap chardonnay, to paying it forward and never ironing again – for Australia’s biggest individual lottery winner, it’s the little luxuries in life that she’s enjoying every day thanks to her prize.
It’s been two and half years since a Sydney mum won an incredible $107 million prize in Powerball, smashing lottery records and catapulting her into the history books as the country’s biggest individual lottery winner.
In January 2019, the humble and hardworking nurse received a phone call that instantly changed her life and made her an overnight multi-millionaire.
Ahead of Thursday’s $60 million Powerball draw, she wants the country to know what she’s been up to since receiving that life-changing phone call and how she’s enjoying her record-breaking prize.
The mum in her 40s shocked the nation when she declared on the night of the historic draw that she’d be showing up to work the very next day, and The Lott can confirm she’s stayed true to her word.
“I don’t know why people were so shocked!” she laughed when speaking to an official from The Lott recently.
“I’m still working and my husband is also still working. We both love our jobs!”
The Sydney woman shared her and her husband had always been passionate about giving back to the community, and their prize had allowed them to create a legacy that would continue far beyond their lifetimes.
“In those weeks after our win, I walked down the street and I knew that just about every second person bought a ticket into the draw, and I know that I won their $10 or $15 and that really resonated with me,” she explained.
“Paying it forward is really important to us because if you change one person’s life, you have the potential to change the whole community.
“We have already made some really important donations, and we’re always thinking a lot about what we want to support next.
“We watch the news and we read the papers, and we literally keep a notebook of causes we know we want to help on a grassroots level.
“It makes you feel incredibly privileged, and it is what we’ve always done anyway, but now we can just do so much more.”
In terms of “pinch me” moments since her record-breaking windfall, the grateful Sydney mum admitted there’s at least one every single day.
“We were able to buy a lovely house, and it’s going to be a family home for generations to come,” she said.
“That’s something that I’ve always dreamt of and every time I walk into my beautiful home is a pinch-me moment.
“Every time I come home and I remember that this is my house and I never have to move my family is something that I will never take for granted.
“And seeing the relief on my husband’s face. We’ve both worked so hard for so long, and to never have that financial stress, to be able to take that away from him, that is just priceless.”
While the down-to-earth mum is still happily cleaning the house and doing the grocery shopping, she confessed there was one chore she didn’t think twice about ditching.
“I’ve never been one for ironing. Now I do have someone who does the ironing for me and that’s been invaluable,” she laughed.
“I’ll clean and cook, but I’m more than happy to never pick up an iron ever again.”
And for how else she’s enjoying her mind-blowing prize, the historic winner explained she’s cherishing the little luxuries in life that she never thought she’d be able to indulge in.
“I love books and to be able to go into a bookshop and buy whatever book I want is amazing. It’s things like that that I don’t take for granted,” she said.
“Being able to buy fresh flowers is a luxury. That’s a lovely thing to do.
“I can buy a nicer bottle of wine now, after celebrating with a cheap bottle of chardonnay!
“And having the ability to travel with the children is incredible. We never thought we’d be able to afford to do that. It was always out of reach for us, so to have those memories is priceless!”
Powerball draw 1311 closes at 7:30pm AEST on Thursday 1 July 2021.
Tickets can be purchased at any licensed lottery outlet, online from thelott.com or via The Lott mobile app.
In 2020, 14 Powerball division one winners across Australia pocketed more than $470.1 million in prize money.
Of the 14 Powerball division one winning entries in 2020, six landed in Queensland, five in New South Wales and three in Victoria.
The home of Australia’s Official Lotteries, The Lott operates and markets Australia’s leading lottery games customers know and love creating everyday winners, winning every day.
In 2020, more than 111.6 million winners took home more than $3.33 billion in prize money from their favourite games at The Lott, including Saturday Lotto, Monday & Wednesday Lotto, Powerball, Oz Lotto, Set for Life, Lucky Lotteries, Keno, Super 66, Lotto Strike and Instant Scratch-Its.
Last financial year, Australia’s Official Lotteries contributed more than $1.4 billion via state lottery taxes and donations to help community initiatives, such as hospitals, health research, disaster relief and education.
