A 26-year-old Australian tax accountant has won a multimillion-dollar tropical island resort in a raffle, beating odds of 75,000 to one. Josh Ptasznyk, from Wollongong, New South Wales, purchased a ticket for the raffle after reading a news article during his lunch break.
The resort, located on the remote Micronesian island of Kosrae, was put up for raffle by Australian couple Doug and Sally Beitz, who have called the island home since the 1990s. The Beitz family sold more than 75,000 tickets, raising nearly A$4 million ($3 million, £2.3 million), which will allow them to return to Queensland.
Mr Ptasznyk described the win as 'overwhelming' and 'life-changing'. He told the Daily Telegraph: 'What started as a simple click of a news article during my lunch break that piqued my interest has resulted in a life-changing experience that I could only dream of.' He expressed gratitude to the Beitz family and said he looks forward to visiting the resort.
The 16-room resort includes a scuba diving business, a significant shift from Mr Ptasznyk's current work filling out tax returns for small business owners. To inspect his winnings, he will need to fly to Guam and then catch a ferry to Kosrae.
A friend of Mr Ptasznyk noted that he was still coming to grips with the news, saying: 'It was a surreal moment. It was relatively controlled — it took a while for him to sink in.'
