Busselton Great-Grandfather's Lotto win brings five generations together

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A Busselton great-grandfather is planning to surprise his extended family with life-changing news at their next family gathering after discovering he won more than $650,000 in Saturday Lotto.

The man, aged in his 70s, was one of 10 players nationwide to win a Division One prize in the Saturday Lotto draw on 22 August.

The winner is a full-time carer for his mother and did not learn of his win until more than two weeks after the draw.

"I'd been dodging calls from a number I didn't recognise for a couple of weeks," he said.

"Then when Lotterywest finally got through to me, I fobbed them off because I was busy with Mum and wasn't really listening to what they were saying.

“The caller asked me to call them back and I promptly forgot about it!”

When Lotterywest did get through, the man said he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I wanted to wait until I was in the Winner’s Room to find out exactly how much I had won,” he said.

“Mum is the only person who knows, and she was over the moon for me, but I’ll tell other family members when I’ve had a chance to let it sink in.”

His first celebration will be a Chinese meal with his 91-year-old mother.

“Mum loves Chinese takeout,” he said.

“We also regularly have five-generations family days, so I’ll shout everyone to a Chinese meal and share the news with them all then.”

The winner bought his $6.60 System 7 ticket through Play Online and played with birthday numbers and, including with other division prizes from the same draw, won $652,714.

The winning numbers were 9, 11, 2, 1, 13 and 20 with supplementary numbers 28 and 45.

Lotterywest spokesperson Jennie Fitzhardinge said birthdays remained one of the most common number selections among players who choose their own numbers.

"We often see more Division One winners when lower numbers are drawn because so many players choose birthdays and other significant dates," Ms Fitzhardinge said.

"In this draw there were 10 Division One winners nationally, including three in Western Australia.
"WA players have another chance to win big this weekend, with a Saturday Lotto $10 million Special Event Division One prize pool."

Thanks to Lotterywest players, Lotterywest supported Superfins WA with a $28,800 grant to deliver activities that help people living with disability build confidence, strengthen social connections and foster a sense of belonging in their community. The program includes a camp in Busselton.

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