Late father's lucky numbers win lottery prize for family

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- An Australian man's lucky numbers scored a $286,856 lottery jackpot for his family -- two years after his death.

A spokeswoman for the lottery syndicate, which is composed of 11 family members, said the group has been using her late father's lucky lottery numbers in the TattsLotto drawing.

"They are actually my father's numbers. He passed away about two years ago but we kept playing them to honor him," the woman said. "He'd been playing them for years and years before that too so I'm quite excited we've finally had a win!"

The woman said she hadn't yet determined what she will do with her share of the winnings.

"This was the last thing I expected when I answered the phone this morning!" she said.

"I'm sure we will have some sort of family party to celebrate the win. That's for sure!" the woman said. "Maybe we'll use ours towards a holiday -- I really can't think at the moment!"