A young Wollongong woman buying Instant Scratch-Its tickets for her grandmother’s birthday unexpectedly picked up a $520,000 top prize win on a ticket she bought herself.

The top prize winning $10 Live the Life Instant Scratch-Its ticket was purchased at newsXpress Dapto, Shop G106, Dapto Mall, Princes Hwy & Moombara St, Dapto.

Speaking with us this afternoon, the happy winner relayed the exciting moment she discovered she’d won $1,000 a week for 10 years.

“I never buy Instant Scratch-Its tickets. I always get some from my grandmother for my birthday or Christmas and so this year for her birthday, I decided to buy her some in return,” she admitted.

“But, when I was buying hers, I saw the Live the Life tickets and thought I’d give it a go myself.

“Then I went to my grandmother’s house to celebrate her birthday and to give her the gift, but I totally forgot I also had some Instant Scratch-Its tickets to check.

“A few days later I remembered I’d bought one for myself and so I checked it then.

“I was in shock when I saw the windfall. I was so shaky! I thought, ‘This can’t be real! This must be a mistake’.

“I called my mum straight away and made her check it for me. She was blown away. She kept saying, ‘No way! Oh my god! This is crazy!’.

“When I called my grandmother and told her she was so excited for me. She kept cheering and giggling. It was so nice. But I felt bad that I got the big winning ticket, and she didn’t.

“I’m definitely going to share some of my prize with my grandmother – she deserves to be spoilt.

“I’d also like to plan a family holiday and then set myself up for the future.

“I’m only young, so this win means a lot to me. I’m so grateful. It’s amazing!”

newsXpress Dapto owner Leonie Robinson said the team was over the moon to have sold a top prize winning Instant Scratch-Its ticket.

“Wow! What an exciting time for the customer, the community and our retail outlet,” she said.

“We’d love to send our congratulations to our winner. We wish her the very best and hope it makes a great difference to her life!

“Hopefully it’s the start of many more wins.”