$10.3 million Lotto winner 'forgot all about' ticket

Lotto's latest lucky winner had no idea she held the winning ticket.
Lotto's latest lucky winner had no idea she held the winning ticket. Photo credit: Lotto New Zealand

New Zealand's latest Lotto winner was unaware she had the winning ticket - saying she had "forgot all about" it.

The woman, who did not want to be named, bought her ticket earlier in the week and it slipped her memory.

"I buy tickets when I'm feeling lucky," the woman said in a Lotto statement.

While walking on Sunday, the woman stopped at Auckland's Richmond Road Superette to check her ticket. After scanning it twice she still was not sure what was going on.

"The words 'Congratulations Division 1 Winner' popped up - I was really surprised, but unsure of what it meant."

She asked the Lotto operator to check it.

"She looked up and said, 'you've won $10.3 million' and we just kind of stared at each other for quite some time, not knowing what to do!

"I was so shocked, I needed to sit down, the lady and her manager brought me a chair. I suddenly felt really hot and started to remove the many layers I had needed earlier on my walk!"

After chatting with Lotto NZ's winners' team, the winner went and did her grocery shopping for the week while she thought of how to tell her family.

"I think the normality of wandering around the market really helped," said the woman.

"It was a bit like I was living in a dream - it felt like everyone was smiling at me, like they all knew that something amazing had just happened.

"I'm so unbelievably happy - this really couldn't have come at a better time."

Later, the woman told her family the news.

"They couldn't believe it - it was amazing to see their faces light up when they realised it was true. Everyone was so overjoyed and there were lots of hugs and kisses."

With the money now in the woman's bank account, she is looking towards her future.

"It's still very early days, but the one thing that springs to mind is being able to buy my first home - it always felt like such an unachievable goal, but this win makes it all possible now."

The winning ticket was sold at Richmond Road Superette for the draw on Wednesday June 17 2020.

Powerball has made seven Kiwis overnight multi-millionaires since the start of the year.

"To see so many winners recently has been fantastic. They are all such deserving people who have had their lives, and the lives of those around them, changed for the better," said Marie Winfield, head of communication and corporate social responsibility at Lotto NZ.