Bad weather almost stopped her from buying a ticket

By Kate Northrop

SYDNEY, Au. — An Australian woman is thankful she didn't take a rain check on buying her lottery tickets when her last minute decision to brave the ugly weather earned her the $50 million (US$38.3 million) Australian Powerball jackpot from the drawing on Thurs., Mar. 18.

Following a week of relentless downpour, a mother hailing from the eastern Sydney suburbs was nearly dissuaded from going out to buy a lottery ticket, but thankfully, the pouring rain didn't stop her from picking up a winning ticket worth $50 million.

"The weather has been absolutely crap, and so I wasn't even going to buy a ticket because I didn't want to go out," the anonymous winner told The Lott. "I also thought there's no way I would be the winner, but at the last minute, I had to duck out, so I thought I would try my luck."

The Lott allows players to register their ticket purchases to a player card so that Lottery officials can contact a winner should their ticket win. The winner from Thursday's draw had opted not to associate her entry to a player card, which meant that it was up to her to discover the lifechanging win.

The mother checked her numbers after hearing that someone had bought a jackpot-winning ticket from the retailer she purchased a ticket at, the CTC Eastern tobacco shop on Anzac Parade in Maroubra. She couldn't believe it when she checked her ticket and realized it matched all the winning numbers: 6, 16, 18, 29, 30, 33, 35, and Powerball 4.

"I ran straight to my husband and said, 'Christ, I think we've won $50 million!'" she exclaimed. "He checked the ticket, and we both went into a state of shock."

John Yu, the owner of the CTC Eastern retailer that sold the winning ticket, was thrilled that a local customer took home the jackpot and recalled having a busy weekend at the store after the drawing took place.

"Everyone we saw, we were telling them to check their tickets and telling them to tell their family and friends to check their tickets," Yu said. "We couldn't be happier for our winner and hope she truly enjoys it. We pass on our congratulations to her."

According to Yu, this is the first division one winning ticket the store has ever sold.

"Fingers crossed this is the start of a winning streak, and we can sell some more major prizes to our customers," the store owner continued.

The lucky winner said that would be difficult to sleep until the money is safely in her bank account. Even then, the excitement of the winning the prize might still making getting a good night's sleep impossible.

"It's thrown everything upside down in the best possible way," she said in a press release. "It's a dream come true!"

The couple said that they still have trouble wrapping their heads around the drawing that just drastically changed their lives and cannot fully comprehend that they are suddenly multi-millionaires. Regardless, they acknowledged that it's going to make life much easier.

With their windfall, their top priority is using the prize to take care of family and offering a share of it to do with it as they please. A new house might also be in order for the couple, but the winner was clear about one thing on her to-do list.

"There's going to be lots of shopping sprees!" she stated with glee. "I love shopping, so I can't wait."

"Tonight, we will be having some champagne and order take away," the winner proudly said. "There's no way I am cooking! Although, I don't even know if I will be able to eat — I am too excited."