Lucky number 13: Shondell becomes SAFM’s $50K Alphabucks winner

Number 13 turns out to be lucky after all, with Shondell from Elizabeth East becoming SAFM’s $50K Alphabucks winner

Playing with SAFM Adelaide’s Breakfast hosts Bec & Soda, Shondell was among 48 Adelaide listeners vying for the $50,000 this week.

The game required Shondell to get ten answers correct within 30 seconds, all starting with the same letter.

The order of play was drawn at random and the set of Alphabucks questions were also blindly chosen by the listener.

Shondell selected the letter S and was the 13th listener to play.

A team of SAFM adjudicators, including Content Director Alex Flack, questioned Shondell’s answer of ‘spaghetti squash’ for a vegetable starting with S.

After much deliberation it was ruled she was indeed the $50,000 winner.

When Soda asked “What would $50,000 do for you?,” Shondell revealed she’ll now be able to help her dad, who has Type 2 diabetes and recently became an amputee.

“A few years ago, he got a nasty infection after a couple of operations they weren’t able to save his foot. He ended up losing just below his knee down.”

“He’s lost his sight pretty much in both eyes.”

“Mum has been the rock for him since that’s all happened. It means a lot, it means I can help now. I have never been able to help Mum and Dad at all.”

“There are a few bits and bobs he still needs just to make life around the house a bit easier. A new lounge that makes it easier to get him up and down during the day.”

Shondell describes her kids as her rock, revealing her youngest child had told her that morning “Mummy, you’ll be telling me when you pick me up that we will be able to help Nanna and Poppa.”

The game wasn’t short of drama. The SAFM team needed to run in a bottle of water to Shondell while she waited for the SAFM adjudicators to deliberate as she started to feel faint.