A Gisborne woman stood dumbstruck with tears rolling down her cheeks when she heard she had won Lotto's Big Wednesday not once, but twice -- a total of nearly $175,000.
Three of the 209 winning Big Wednesday tickets, worth $87,272 each, were sold in Gisborne.
One was sold from the Ideal Store in Wainui Road and two from Elgin Four Square.
It was the final Big Wednesday draw, with 209 lucky players from around the country splitting the $15 million jackpot.
Elgin Four Square owner Virinder Kumar described the woman winning with two separate tickets as being "like a miracle".
The middle-aged woman went to the store early yesterday morning, before 9am, to check one of her tickets.
"She did not know she had won and when I told her she was in shock."
Then, at 10am, she came in again to check the rest of her tickets.
"I checked one, two, three, four and then the fifth one showed she was a big winner. She said 'you are joking' ... she couldn't breathe, could not speak and then her eyes filled up with tears and she started to cry," said Mr Kumar.
She is a regular shopper at Elgin Four Square and usually picks her own numbers.
"For these winning tickets she picked her own numbers but she said it is our shop -- Elgin Four Square -- that is lucky."
Mr Kumar said it had been a great day at the store with staff feeling like they had won Lotto.
"We are really a lucky store here. We have sold a winning $6.3 million Powerball and Lotto ticket.
"I think that is the biggest prize that has come to Gisborne, and we have had some big Instant Kiwi winners here too," he said.
The other winning Big Wednesday ticket, sold by Ideal Store, is yet to be claimed.
