A lucky Lotto player who scored more than $5 million in Saturday's draw realised she was a winner as she sat watching the New Zealand Rugby Sevens' Olympic win, a moment she says she'll "never forget".
The Ashburton woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, took home $5.3 with Lotto Powerball First Division on Saturday night. She purchased the ticket earlier that day on MyLotto and her's is the 13th Powerball win of the year.
According to a release from Lotto, the woman realised she was the winner as she sat down to watch the Sevens final against France on Saturday evening, deciding to check her ticket on MyLotto at the same time.
"I was sitting on the couch next to my husband when I opened the Lotto NZ App and checked my ticket with one eye on my phone and other on the rugby," the woman said.
"When I heard the winning tune play, I looked down at my phone and couldn't believe what I was seeing – I was just sitting there staring at the ticket. My husband turned to me and said 'have you won another Bonus Ticket?', to which I turned the phone to him and said 'it's something a bit bigger than that!'."
The pair then kept re-checking their ticket, with the woman saying her "hands were shaking".
"When we realised just how much we had won we both had smiles a mile wide plastered on our faces – I'll never forget that moment," she said.
So what will they do with the massive winnings? The woman said she's a "big believer in not forgetting your roots and staying grounded".
"For us, this win is all about family – we want to make sure we set up the future generations. It's an incredible feeling knowing that this prize will make such a big difference in not just our lives, but in the lives of our children and our children's children.
"You always dream of winning Powerball and imagine what you'd do if you won big – it's all part of the fun of it – but I truly never believed that I would win something this big. I just feel so incredibly lucky."
The biggest Lotto win of the year so far was $22.5 million. That ticket was sold on MyLotto to a person from Christchurch in March.
