Clerk convinces woman to buy $1.4 million lottery ticket

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- An Australian woman who won a lottery jackpot of more than $1.4 million said a store clerk talked her into buying the ticket that earned her the windfall.

The Brisbane, Queensland, woman told The Lott officials she had originally intended to buy a ticket for a different lottery drawing when she visited the Nightowl Brunswick Street store in Fortitude Valley.

"I went into the newsagency to purchase an entry into Powerball, and the team member suggested I play Saturday Gold Lotto," the player recalled. "I never purchase entries into Saturday Gold Lotto, but I'm so glad I did."

The woman said a social media post tipped her off that she might have won the $1,428,153.18 jackpot from Saturday's drawing.

"Earlier this morning, my daughter told me there was a Facebook post about a mystery division one winner who purchased their entry at NightOwl Brunswick Street. I thought, 'I better check this,'" the player said. "My husband was laying down, and I ran to him and said, 'I think I might have this. I really might have won.'

"We phoned our daughter and told her to read the numbers out, and that's when we knew our life had changed forever. We had to close our blinds so we could let out some screams."

The woman said the win comes at a fortuitous time for her family.

"It's been a very stressful year for my partner and I. This will take the pressure off tremendously," she said. "We hope to help our children and grandchildren. We're also going to retire earlier than expected."