Touching story behind man's winning $8m lotto numbers
A man who followed in his late father's footsteps, by playing his lotto numbers, has taken home an eight million dollar Powerball prize.
The lucky winner from Greenfield Park, in Sydney said he had been putting the numbers on for his late father for three years.
“He said: ‘Keep putting the numbers on for me, they may come good for the family’ and it seems he was right," the winner said.
“He had been playing the numbers for 20 years and we are so lucky we retained them after he was gone.”
The shocked winner, who scored the entire division one prize in Thursday's draw, said he would use the money to help other family members who inspired the entry.
“We a large family and seeing as they were my late father’s numbers I’m sure he would like the family to be looked after as he always did the right thing by his family."
The man added: “He always said it was his hope that he could help the family so now it has come true!”
A NSW lotteries official was initially unable to contact the lucky winner even though his entry was registered.
“I checked my ticket, but I thought I’d better get in touch to make sure it was real," said the man who is currently on holidays.
“I’m not sure whether to talk about the win or not – but it’s a nice problem to have!”
A staff member at the Greenfield Newsagent, where the winning entry was sold, said they were very happy for the winner.
“Oh my god. I opened this morning and saw the message that we had sold the division one prize. The blood went to my head!” Gina Chen laughed.
The man is the first division one winner from the new Powerball game which was updated last week.
