The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, will get $1000 a week for the next five years – thanks to the winning $5 Live the Life Scratch-Its ticket.

Remarkably, the winning ticket – from the Dapto Newsagency, on Bong Bong Road – was a free ticket won on a previous scratchie.

The woman described her win as “surreal”, saying she bought a $5 Live the Life Instant Scratch-Its ticket on a regular basis. 

“I bought a ... ticket from my local lottery agent, as I do each week, and I scratched it and won a free ticket,” she said.

“While I was out and about, I took it in and got another one.

“Then I was at home and I was just laying bed and I thought ‘I’ve got an Instant Scratch-Its, I’ll scratch it now’. 

“I often get two ‘Live the Life’ boxes, but then the third one came up and I was like ‘Oh my God!’.

“I started screaming for my husband to check it. He didn’t know what to do. We had to keep checking it over and over.

“The kids were screaming and carrying on.  I don’t think we slept at all that night.” 

The woman then locked her winning scratchie away in a box.

“I panicked thinking the kids would grab it and play with it so we hid it away,” she said.

The woman and her family aren’t yet sure how to spend their instant windfall.

“It’s a nice little bonus and really helps us at the moment. It couldn’t have come at a better time,” she said.

Victoria Merritt, from the Dapto Newsagency, said the outlet was thrilled to have sold a top prize-winning ticket.

“It’s always good to hear of our customers winning,” Ms Merritt said. 

“Good for them, whoever they are.”