10,000 reasons to smile for flood-affected retiree

“I’ve never won anything in my life!”

That was the reaction of a Townsville retiree, after discovering she had won $10,000 on an Instant Scratch-Its ticket.

“You have no idea how much this means to me,” she told a Golden Casket official, adding that the sum is “a gold mine to me”.

The woman, who had been affected by the February floods, had purchased the top prize winning $1 Reno Riches Instant Scratch-Its ticket at Stuart Drive Food & News in Wulguru.

“When I scratched the ticket and I saw I won, I almost had a heart attack. I broke down crying! I am still crying. I am really emotional.”

How does she plan to spend her windfall?

“I will celebrate when the money is in my account with a cup of tea and some finger buns, they’re my favourite,” she confessed.

“I am going to pay off my bills and get myself a few new nice dresses.

“We’ve been affected by the floods so this will help so much. It’s been hard these past few years and this will just help a lot.”