11 August 2011

A Dunedin man can’t believe his luck after being made redundant and then winning Lotto in the same week.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, won $361,557 with Lotto Strike on a ticket bought at Pak N Save Dunedin.

The winner got the news he had lost his job last Thursday, and was very worried about his future, so when he was shopping at Pak N Save he decided that his usual weekly Lotto ticket purchase would have to be his last for a while.

“So I said to the Lotto operator, “this is the last time I will be buying a Lotto ticket, so please make sure you give me the winning one.””

The man and his wife did not watch the Saturday draw as they were out at an event. “We did not really enjoy ourselves being out, as we were very down and worried about how we would pay the mortgage.”

The man then went online to check the Lotto numbers once they returned home.

“Given how much I was wishing that I could win Lotto, I could not actually believe that I had the right numbers. My wife started crying and kept saying that it could not be real, and that I must be checking the wrong numbers.

“We could not sleep that night, and my wife kept reminding me of the Lotto ad where the man loses his winning ticket, so I made sure it was in a safe place.

“The win changes everything for us. I really enjoyed ringing the bank and arranging to have our mortgage paid off, and I can now take a bit longer to look around for a new job.

“We also want to give back, and have a couple of favourite charities that we will be making donations to.”

The man has also been back to the Pak N Save to thank the Lotto operator who sold him the big-winning ticket. “She was so happy that my dream came true,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lotto Powerball jackpotted on the weekend and will be worth a massive $20 million this Saturday.

ENDS

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