Imagine the surprise for one lucky lottery player in Australia when he found out that he had won AUD 80 million ($56.7 million) from the Powerball on Thursday, February 12.
And a surprise it was, as the winner nearly forgot about the ticket and never really checked in with the lottery phoning in to let him know. Indeed, Powerball officials called in ten times with the messages going to voicemail.
Retiree Facing Challenges in Life Gets a Multi-Million Lottery Boost
The retiree had switched his phone to silent mode and missed all ten calls, but he did follow up with the voice mail messages to find out that he had become a millionaire while almost missing the news altogether!
The Powerball winning numbers on this occasion were 20, 30, 21, 18, 11, 14, and 12, with the coveted Powerball number set at 7. Naturally, the man couldn’t believe his luck at first: “Are you joking?” he remembers asking the lottery.
“I can’t believe it! Oh my god! I can’t stop crying,” he told officials in that initial contact with them. The news couldn’t have come at a better time, the man said, citing family issues that the win would resolve all at once.
Taking It Easy, Living a Modest and Peaceful Life
The man said that his entire life had changed with that single phone call (there were seven in fact), arguing that the multi-million dollar prize would help him secure his family’s future, as well as feel a financial relief.
While the multi-million prize might invite exuberance, this is not what the winner intends to do with the money. He will instead salt it away and spend it frugally, as he seeks to live a full but modest life, leaving some money behind, donating away, and ensuring that he has enough to live by.
A dream that he may just realize, however, is to travel to Italy – a country he hasn’t visited since he was 10. The
