By Ria Novosti. Australasia, 12:30 AM IST

Perth, May 28 (RIA Novosti) A 30-year-old woman from Perth in West Australia came across a lottery ticket worth $13 million after she decided to check a bundle of old lottery tickets in a drawer, media reports said Thursday.

The woman, a university student, was unaware that she had been making headlines for almost a year as the winner of the region's largest unclaimed Lotto prize.

She decided to check several unchecked lottery tickets that she had kept in a cupboard drawer as she and her family were experiencing financial troubles. The winning ticket was a birthday present from her father, and was valid until July 22, 2009.

'I woke up this morning worried about our finances. Something made me think to check the tickets and I thought that if I win something, then I could help Mum and Dad out,' the woman, who preferred to stay anonymous, told the official state lottery Lotterywest.

She initially thought that she had won about $13,000.

'I checked the commas and decimal places and then realized,' she said.

--RIA Novosti

skp/rn

By Ria Novosti (Staff Writer, © IANS)