By Jessica Anstice
A Berwick woman has admitted to being in a “mild state of shock” after the winnings on her $5 scratch-it ticket turned out to be $100,000 and not the $10,000 she originally thought.
The lucky woman scratched one of the top prizes on the $5 Crosswords Instant Scratch-It ticket which she purchased at Parkhill Berwick News and Lotto.
Initially the woman thought she had just won $750.
“I was scratching the ticket and initially thought I had scratched eight words which would have won me $750,” she said.
“So I double checked each letter and then wrote out each word that I had scratched off and thought I had won $10,000.
“I was so excited! I went into the office the next day to claim the prize and when I got there I told the lady behind the counter I originally thought I had only won $750.”
The woman behind the counter said, “You definitely didn’t win the amount you think”.
“I thought I must have counted wrong and I did only win $750,” the winner who wishes to remain anonymous said.
The woman realised it really was her lucky day when she was told she had actually won $100,000.
“I couldn’t believe it! I was in such shock,” she exclaimed.
“I would have loved to see a photo of me and my husband’s face at that moment.
“It would have been priceless!”
When asked how she celebrated the windfall, the happy woman revealed she’d already had her adult children around to celebrate.
“I just couldn’t wait to tell them so I had them all over so I could let them know the exciting news,” she said.
“When I told them they were in happy tears. I wasn’t too far behind them.
“We cracked open a bottle of champagne and celebrated together.”
The player revealed she had a weekly ritual of playing $5 scratch-it tickets.
“I pick up a $5 Crosswords ticket whenever I put on my lottery tickets,” she explained.
“The most I’ve ever won is $50!”
When asked how she planned to enjoy her instant windfall, the family woman revealed it would allow her to realise her long-held dream of travelling.
“We’ll pay off everything we need to and then we’ll be off travelling, she said.
“We’ve always wanted to go overseas but haven’t been able to yet. We are tossing up where to go but we’ll decide when we see it in the bank account.
“The win has been truly life-changing!”
Parkhill Berwick News and Lotto team member Moira Parker said it was a thrill to know one of their regular customers had scored a top prize.
“We were absolutely flabbergasted when we found out we’d sold another top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its!” she exclaimed.
“This is the second $5 Crosswords top prize we’ve sold here. We like to think of ourselves as a bit of a lucky store for scratchies.
“We’ve had plenty of winners win some of the smaller prizes of $750 or a few thousand.”
