Big Lotto winner 'glad I followed my gut'

Photo / File / Ross Setford

Hunger pangs resulted in a Dunedin couple winning $500,000 in Saturday night's Lotto draw with a ticket bought while picking up a bacon and egg sandwich.

The couple, who jointly won first division with a North Island winner, bought their ticket at Green Island Lucky Lotto and Milkbar on the way home from work one day.

"I realised I was starving, so stopped to grab a bacon and egg sandwich.

"When I saw they had a Lotto kiosk, I decided to buy our Lotto tickets while I was there.

"We usually buy our tickets at the supermarket, so I'm glad I followed my gut on this one," said one of the couple, who wish to remain anonymous.

The couple checked their ticket several times after realising the numbers matched and then took a photograph of it and sent it to their children to "make sure we weren't going crazy".

"It wasn't until they told us we were right that we really began to believe it."

The win was beginning to sink in, and the couple knew exactly what they wanted to do next - fly to Auckland and claim their prize in person.

"We'd always said we would make a holiday of it if we ever won big.

"I didn't let the ticket leave my sight the entire weekend. I carried it in my pocket and kept checking it was still there, just in case. I even slept with it."

The win would not feel real until the Lotto team congratulated them, they said. With the money now sitting in their bank account, the couple were enjoying a short break in Auckland before returning to Dunedin and working out what they wanted to do next.

"It's absolutely life changing. You always dream of winning Lotto, but don't think you'll actually win big. But we did, so it could happen to anyone."