‘Gym cancelled’: $100m Lotto winner found
A Queensland woman getting ready to go to her gym class quickly decided she had other things to do after finding out she won $100 million.
The Hawthorne woman was the second winner of the $200 million record-breaking Powerball draw.
There were two winning tickets for division one in Thursday’s draw, with Hawthorne woman blissfully unaware she’s woken up a millionaire on Friday.
She was getting ready to go to her gym class at 6am when she decided to check her ticket online.
“I scanned the ticket on The Lott app and all the winning numbers immediately lit up and I saw that I’d won $100 million on my phone,“ she said.
“I started to pace the floor back and forth and question if it was even real.
“I didn’t know who to call or what to say. I was slapping my face and telling myself to wake up!
“I immediately hopped into my car, held onto the ticket for dear life and called my dad for some advice.
“But gym is cancelled for today and champagne is on the house.”
The woman said she hopes to take her family on a holiday to Italy next year as well as working on building her career.
“I really want to change the course of direction with my career, and it was the reason why I bought the ticket in the first place,” she said.
“At the end of the day, money will not change who I am.
“I’ve always wanted to start up my own business and I don’t know where to begin but now it will be within reach.
“I’d love to purchase some acreage in Queensland and even take my loved ones to Italy next year for a beautiful holiday.
“What a dream come true.”
The woman bought the winning ticket from Oxford Street News in Bulimba.
“We’re in absolute awe,” newsagency owner Donna Bradshaw said.
“I can’t stop shaking and I can’t wait to ring my husband to tell him the news.
“It feels like we’ve won ourselves.
“Congratulations to the lovely woman who scored this life-changing prize.”
The other ticket belonged to a couple from Singleton, in NSW.
The ticket was purchased by an unregistered user from an outlet in the state’s south east, which means The Lott officials will need to wait for them to come forward for them to claim their $100m prize.
The Hunter River couple received the phone call while lying in bed on Thursday night.
When asked what she would do with the money, the woman said international travel was a priority.
“I absolutely won’t be working anymore. I mean, honestly, do I really need to?” she said.
“There’s always a lot of hypothetical questions of what I would want to do but now I’m just lost for words. I have no idea.
“Maybe an overseas tour. I think I want to see everywhere.”
However, despite the couple’s status as instant millionaires, she said her partner would likely keep his job.
“My partner is here with me now. He’s a bit in shock. He loves his job, so I don’t know if he’ll be retiring,” she said.
“We’ll most definitely be celebrating on the weekend. Our options are endless.”
Overwhelmed with the good news, she said her children would also get a share of their winnings.
“It’s going to help our children immensely,” she told lottery officials.
“Wow. I’m just taking it all in. Thank you so much.”
As well as the two $100m division 1 winners, 22 division two winners also won $177,092.75 each.
Thursday night’s winning numbers were 12, 33, 23, 35, 1, 26 and 32, plus the winning Powerball number of 10.
