She went public with her win while remaining anonymous, revealing she won the mega riches after rummaging through her handbag and finding an unchecked ticket.
“I hadn’t heard Powerball had been won. I was looking for something in my bag when the tickets fell out and I thought I’d better remember to check them when I went down to the shop,” the woman said.
After she handed her tickets to a clerk at the shop, she said she won a few bonus lines on one ticket “and then the clerk just stopped and looked at me, then back to the screen, and back to me again”.
“I wondered what was going on. He said, ‘you’re our first division winner’. I just said, ‘oh my god, oh my god, you’re kidding me?’
“I didn’t even know how much it was at that point, but I was so shocked – nothing like this has ever happened to me.
“I had to sit down – I was shaking like a leaf,” she said.
She said she was still too shocked to know what to do with the money.
“There’s no words – it’s just so unbelievable. I’m walking around with a great big grin on my face.
“I don’t have any plans yet, but I’m looking forward to celebrating and sharing the news with my family.”
The woman’s win came weeks after a Taranaki couple won $8.3m and a Wellington couple won $7m.
What to do if you win
Ticketholders can see immediately if they have won if they purchased a ticket through MyLotto. Prizes of $1000 or less are automatically credited to the account.
For prizes of more than $1000, winners have to fill in an online prize form.
Results are available immediately after the live draws on TVNZ 1, which take place on Wednesday and Saturday nights.
They can also be found through the MyLotto app, online at www.mylotto.co.nz, at Lotto NZ retailers and on nzherald.co.nz.
Winners with a physical ticket must still visit a Lotto retailer to claim their prize.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
