Friday the 13th proved to be the luckiest day in the lives of a couple from Queensland, who will be receiving $20,000 each month for the next 20 years after they won first prize in the Set For Life draw last week.
The woman, who asked for anonymity, could not believe her luck when told of their winnings by an official from Golden Casket just this morning.
“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I don’t believe it. Twenty years — phenomenal. Wow, oh my gosh! This is amazing, it is outrageous actually — I am going to be in shock for a very long time. When you first called, my husband and I thought we had won something reasonable, but it never occurred to us that it was the big prize, so thank you so much,” she said.
“Turns out Friday the 13th isn’t so bad after all. Friday the 13th will be party time from now on,” she gleefully added.
The couple, who hails from the Sunshine Coast, explained that it could not have come at a much better time.
“I was just trying to figure out my super and now I don’t have to,” she said. “We are retired, but we were at a crossroads trying to figure out what to do. We have been hunting for jobs and now we can finally give up.”
The winning couple also bared their plans to spoil their family and enjoy their golden years.
“The first thing we will do is help out the family, then we will travel, then renovate the house. After that, god knows what we will do,” she said.
The pair have plans to travel across Australia and also see the sights in other countries, a feat that they admitted never being able to do before.
“We can finally do all those things we have always wanted to do.”
The winning ticket was purchased at Nextra Chancellor Park at Sippy Downs and assistant manager Karen Daymond claimed that the outlet was overjoyed to have sold the 40th Set For Life first prize winning entry.
“It is great to know we have changed someone’s life. We are so happy for them,” she said. “We have sold two division one tickets before, so we were ready to sell another big prize.
“We have been telling all of our customers, printed some signs and put some balloons up. We are glad it is a local customer and will definitely be celebrating.”