A mum from Unanderra has had a great birthday surprise after winning $10,000 on a $1.10 Instant Scratch-its ticket she received as a gift.
The winning ticket was purchased at nextra Figtree Newsagency, Shop 29 Figtree Grove Shopping Centre, Figtree.
Speaking to a NSW Lotteries official to claim her prize, the happy woman described the moment she realised she was an instant winner.
“I received the Instant Scratch-Its ticket for my birthday. I usually get a few every year, so I couldn’t believe that I had won at first,” she admitted.
“It was surreal and so exciting at the same time.
“I was just at home, it was 10:30 at night and it had been one of those long, tiring days and I needed to wind down, so I decided to scratch the ticket.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!
“I checked the back of the ticket to read the instructions, but I still didn’t think I had won. I probably checked it another three, four times and just kept thinking ‘am I reading it wrong? Maybe its $1,000? Surely it’s not $10,000!’.
“When I went to bed that night I couldn’t sleep. I just kept thinking ‘Am I $10,000 richer? Do not get excited, whatever you do. Keep it real, keep it cool and wait until you know for sure.’.
“Then I went into the newsagency to check and they told me I had won, I thought ‘I just won! It’s me, I am $10,000 richer!’.
“I am so happy, it’s a huge win.”
When asked what she would spend her instant windfall on, the happy mum revealed she would spoil her family.
“It will definitely help my family,” she said.
“One of my sons wants a bike and another wants me to put some towards his car.
“I need to do a few things around the house and then I will buy something to treat myself – something that I can’t usually justify spending the money on.
“To celebrate tonight, we will go out for a few drinks and a really nice meal – one where you can order whatever you want and not look at the price.”
nextra Figtree Newsagency co-owner Grace Ma was thrilled to hear that her store had sold another top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket.
“Oh my god, it is so exciting,” she said.
“Last week we sold a division two winning ticket in the $40 million Powerball draw. In the past five years we have sold two 1st Prize Lucky Lotteries tickets, four top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its tickets and many division two and 2nd prize winning tickets.
“It is very exciting, we are very happy for the winner.
“We will be telling all of our customers about the win and hope for some more!”
Last financial year, there were 158 Instant Scratch-Its top prize winners across the Lott’s jurisdictions who collectively took home more than $11.28 million.
The latest range of Instant Scratch-Its tickets are available now at NSW Lotteries outlets. It can happen in an instant. It could happen to you.
