It was a win for the nation on Saturday night as the New Zealand women's sevens teams took home gold at the Tokyo Olympics, but one South Canterbury rugby fan was busy celebrating another big win.
Saturday night's Lotto draw winner, who did not want to be named, said she and her husband ditched the game upon realising they were $5.3 million richer.
"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," she said in a statement today.
"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'.
"My hands were shaking as we sat there checking the ticket together. I couldn’t even read out the number I was seeing – first I said $5,333, then $53,333 … all the way up to $5,333,333.
"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."
The couple, who purchased the ticket online at MyLotto, said the win would set their family up for generations.
"I’m 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," the woman said.
"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 lucky couple are the ninth biggest winners in Lotto this year, following an Aucklander who nabbed $17.16 million on July 24. They purchased their ticket at West City Lotto.
The biggest win this year was $22.5 million, won by a person from Christchurch who bought their ticket online at MyLotto.
SHARE ME