A Wairarapa mum has landed a big Lotto win. PHOTO/MICHEAL BRADLEY
By Chelsea Boyle
A Wairarapa mum bought a Lotto ticket on a whim while daydreaming of winning a new car.
Instead, her bank account has swelled by $500,000 after the ticket she bought at Carterton New World Supermarket hours before the draw resulted in a two-way share of the $1 million first prize drawn last Saturday night.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she spotted the Mother’s Day promotion and thought it would be nice to drive away in a 2016 Audi.
“After all, winning a car would be a great start to Mother’s Day,” she said.
She said she decided to tune in to the live results instead of checking the ticket later in the week as she usually did.
“I ticked the numbers off on my ticket as they came out and didn’t really notice that I had them all until after the draw had finished.
“I was so focused on getting the numbers right.
“When I realised that I had all six numbers in row I just thought, ‘Really? Really?’.
“I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“I jumped on the computer and checked the results online and everything matched up.”
She said the win reduced her to laughter, then tears, and then laughter again.
“It was such a surreal experience, I’ll never forget it.
“I haven’t had much sleep since to be honest – my mind’s absolutely buzzing.”
With the prize now safely in her bank account, she was looking forward to deciding how to spend her winnings.
“I’m going to do all the sensible things like paying off the mortgage, but am looking forward to treating myself a bit too,” she said.
“Helping out some local charities is also at the top of my list, so some charities will get a nice surprise in their letterbox soon.”
Carterton New World owner Katie Yates said staff were all very excited by the news.
“You always get excited when you know someone has won something, but the fact it was a major prize this time just adds to it.”
The other first division winning ticket was sold at Whitcoulls Albany Mall in Auckland. It had yet to be claimed on Monday.
