He purchased his ticket from Nextra Marketown Newsagency in Marketown Shopping Centre, but forgot to check his numbers and thought no more about it until he found the old entry during a routine tidy-up. Despite feeling a little foolish that he had missed out on becoming a millionaire a year earlier, he was just thankful that the ticket turned up in the end.
“I line the bottom of my reusable Aldi shopping bags with old beer cartons to give them some strength. The ticket was hidden in underneath it and I didn’t know it was there!” He told lottery officials. “I was cleaning rubbish out of my car on the weekend and thought it was time to put new cartons in the bottom of all my bags as they were starting to get torn and I got quite a surprise! I’m glad I didn’t just get the old bags and take them to the dump! I’ve done some pretty stupid things in my time!”
Cheryl Tuckerman, from the store where the ticket was sold, also expressed her delight that the winner had finally come forward. She said: “We’re over the moon! It’s like winning the lottery ourselves! It’s such a relief to know the winner has been united with their prize. You wouldn’t believe how many customers we’ve had coming in during the past year asking whether the winner had been found. We’re excited to be able to tell them that now it has!”
Saturday Lotto is among a host of Australian Lottery games, and a day does not go by without the chance for players to try and pick up huge prizes. The Australian Powerball currently has the largest jackpot up for grabs, with AU$10 million available for anyone who lands in the top tier this Thursday.