Merrylands woman wins $12m in Powerball after buying ticket at Greystanes
A western Sydney mum celebrated her “surreal” $12 million Powerball win by whipping up bacon and eggs for breakfast with her family, but will head back to work.
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An ecstatic Merrylands mum celebrated her “surreal” $12 million Powerball win on the weekend by whipping up bacon and eggs for breakfast with her family.
She was the mystery $12 million Powerball winner after she bought her ticket at Greystanes Centre Newsagency but did not claim it until two days later.
The mum was oblivious to her new-found fortune from Thursday night’s draw until she noticed a NSW Powerball Facebook post on Saturday night.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was the only division one winning entry across Australia in Powerball draw 1221.
It’s the first time an Australian has won a $12 million Powerball prize.
On Sunday morning, the woman was overwhelmed when speaking to a NSW Lotteries’ official.
“We were getting ready for bed last night, and it said on Facebook that someone bought in the winning ticket in Greystanes but haven’t claimed it,’’ she said.
“I thought ‘Oh my goodness, maybe it’s me?’
“That’s when I went and checked my ticket.
“I got someone to read out the winning numbers and I was shaking as I was looking at my ticket and marking each number off.
“It was just shock. It’s surreal. It’s completely surreal.
“We had to wait until we fell asleep; we couldn’t just go to sleep.
“We had a couple of wines last night, and bacon and eggs this morning to celebrate.”
The winner confessed she was still “processing” her new multi-millionaire status, and how she might use her prize.
While no firm plans had been made yet, she vowed to continue to turn up to work tomorrow.
“We have been talking about a nice Christmas holiday to celebrate,” she added.
“I always play Powerball and you read about people winning, but to actually experience it yourself, it’s just surreal. It’s so cool!”.
Greystanes Centre Newsagency employee Pitou Hong was thrilled the winner had been united with their life-changing prize.
“We’ve been so excited to have sold this winning entry and to know that one of our customers is $12 million richer,” he said.
“We were thrilled when we saw we had sold the amazing prize.
“All our customers have been so excited and busily checking their Powerball tickets.
“It’s great that it’s a local and one of our regular customers. We wish them all the very best with their prize.”
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