January 2016’s epic $70 million Powerball winner has come forward to claim their prize!
A pair of grandparents from Hervey Bay went to bed last night with no knowledge that their life had changed forever. The winning wife explained how she woke to “six missed calls” from lottery officials this morning. She immediately got on her tablet to check the winning Powerball numbers online.
“I was all thumbs! I checked it once, I checked it a thousand times!”
Funnily enough, she had previously told her husband that 2016 would be their year to win the lotto.
“It was my 2016 resolution to bring more positivity into my life.”
Her husband joked that he was taking the credit for the winning numbers, despite the ticket being registered to his wife.
“They’re a mix of our favourite numbers and we put them on just about every week.”
He described the win as “absolutely breath-taking” and “wonderful”. He laughed, saying they both “had the shakes” when they found out they had won. The self-described “frugal” pair said they had been mindful of money and “skimped and saved” where they could. But now they would be able to “toss out all those specials catalogues”.
The delighted couple said that winning lotto was a long-time dream of theirs. Consequently, they had come up with some ideas to put the money to good use. First and foremost, they intend to help their family and give to a few charities which are close to their hearts. Next on their list is travel – but only once Europe and the USA warms up, according to the winning wife.
“You won’t see us around here for long. Now we’re off!”
Their winning 6-game Standard ticket was purchased from a local newsagency. The lucky ticket secures the couple $70,000,000.
This ticket that made a $70 million Powerball winner was the largest dividend ever won by a single Powerball ticket at the time. It overtakes the previous record of $58.7 million won by a Melbournian in 2008. It also equals the record for the largest dividend won in any Australian lotto game. That was set in 2013 when a Queensland ticket won $70 million in an Oz Lotto draw.
The winning ticket was the only ticket in Australia to match all 6 numbers plus the Powerball which were drawn last night. The winning numbers from Powerball draw 1025 on Thursday the 7th of January were 18, 23, 34, 14, 4 and 20 plus Powerball number 18.
Could you be Australia’s next millionaire? Buy your lotto tickets online now.