The sought after winner of a $1million lotto draw has been revealed as an Armidale man who received the ticket as a birthday gift from his grandmother.
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"Holy s***!" he laughed when an official from The Lott confirmed the life-changing news.
"Thank you very much. It doesn't feel real!
"I actually didn't buy the ticket myself. My grandmother gave it to me for my birthday.
![$1million winning lotto ticket was a birthday present from Grandmother $1million winning lotto ticket was a birthday present from Grandmother](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Xn3KP2xbyFBWgTmsCMnW6P/a7e48ec9-3892-4ac5-8d4b-9e1e0ae32316.jpg/r0_126_2419_1487_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The man, who wished to remain anonymous described it as "the best present ever".
"It's great because I don't normally play Lotto. I'll occasionally play Powerball when it's big but that's about it," he said.
"When I scanned it online and it said I had won $1 million, I didn't believe it. I thought it was just an error, so to have it confirmed is just crazy.
"I had to knock off early today. I'm just in so much shock."
The man, whose ticket had the division one winning numbers of Lotto draw 4389 said the $1million prize would be absolutely life-changing.
"This is amazing. I'll be able to buy a house. Thank you so much."
The ticket was purchased at JJ's Newsagency on Beardy Street who eagerly awaited to see who the winner would be after sharing the news last week.
Owner Jess Fischer said she and the team were elated for their winning customer. "I was in disbelief when I heard our store had sold a division one winning entry," Ms Fischer said.
![Tiffany Snowden (left) and JJ's Newsagency owner Jessica Fischer (right) were on the search for the $1million winner after the news broke last week. Tiffany Snowden (left) and JJ's Newsagency owner Jessica Fischer (right) were on the search for the $1million winner after the news broke last week.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/Xn3KP2xbyFBWgTmsCMnW6P/4d5a7122-54a8-4d32-ab48-260e466b6f66.jpg/r0_600_4032_2867_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's great to be able to spread the joy around the community during these hard times.
"Our customers are all very happy and excited for the winning person."
Ms Fischer said JJ's had seen some tremendous luck with a number of large winners in recent years.
"This will be our third win in five years of owning the business that has been part of our community now for over 30 years," she said.
"We are very excited about our winner and wish them all the happiness with this life-changing win."
The winning numbers in Monday & Wednesday Lotto draw 4389 on Wednesday 15 May 2024 were 28, 43, 4, 37, 38 and 15, while the supplementary numbers were 16 and 33.
The Armidale man now joins the 101 people who became instant millionaires thanks to Lotto wins in 2023.