A West Australian man who has been given only months to live says a major lotto win will help secure his family’s future.
The man, aged in his 50s, was one of eight division one winners in Saturday’s Lotterywest draw, taking home more than $772,000 from the $6 million prize pool.
The win came shortly after he was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
“I can go out with a smile on my face,” he said.
“I was well prepared with no debt and decent super, but now I know that my family will be set up really well after this win.”
The man said he almost missed buying a ticket before rushing to enter just minutes before the draw closed.
“I saw it was 5.55pm and I thought, ‘I’d better hurry up and get my lotto tickets’,” he said.
“I always buy two entries, one with my favourite numbers, and one Slikpik.
“Usually, I’d reject the first choice of random numbers and go with the second choice, but because it was so close to 6pm (when the draw closed), I went with the first choice, and it was one of those entries that won.”
The man was further stunned when he realised the winning numbers appeared on line 16, which holds special meaning, as it marks his wedding anniversary date.
“We were married on the 16th, and we won 10 years and one week after we were married,” his wife said.
“We’ve been building lots of memories, but it will be hard to top this one, and now I can finally say I’m married to a millionaire.”
The pair said they plan to use some of the money to fly business class to visit family on the east coast.
“We were resigned to not being able to see them, so this is very special,” the man said.
“I am glad I’ll be able to help out some of those family members who have been doing it really tough.”
Lotterywest spokeswoman Jennie Fitzhardinge said the couple’s story had deeply moved staff.
“It is always moving to meet people who have won a life-changing amount of money, but there are things that money just can’t buy,” she said.
Image: Paskaran.T / Shutterstock.com
