The ticket scooped them a share of the $50 million Powerball prize from last Saturday’s Must be Won draw.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, had no idea they had a winning ticket until they visited Collingwood Foodcentre on Wednesday to buy one for that night’s Lotto draw.
“I asked the lady working behind the counter to check my ticket from Saturday night. Next minute she stopped and looked at me, and then back at the ticket, and then back at me again - I wondered what was going on,” she laughed.
“Then I looked at the screen and saw that we had won $5,023,999 - and I just burst out bawling.”
The woman and her husband went out the back of the shop to sit down and absorb the life-changing news.
“You always dream that you’re going to win, but you never think you will - so this has come as a big surprise.”
The retired couple are Invercargill locals and regular Lotto players. The winning ticket was a $12 Power Dip.
Asked where they kept their winning ticket, the woman said, “I kept it in the glovebox of my car - and for some uncanny reason I locked the car the night before we found out we’d won. I don’t usually worry about it, but something told me that I should.”
Once the couple returned home from claiming their prize, they decided to break their normal routine to celebrate.
They invited extended family around for a celebratory dinner that night, and opened some Champagne to toast their good luck.
They are planning to take some time to let the reality of the big win sink in before deciding how they will spend it.
They do, however, want to carry out some house renovations and plan for their future.
• For more information about Lotto NZ’s results for Saturday’s draw please go to the media releases on MyLotto.co.nz
- Staff reporter
