A Whakatāne woman's life has been flipped upside down after she found out she won Wednesday's Powerball.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, was running errands when she decided to go into her local store and purchase a ticket for the Wednesday draw, Lotto NZ said in a statement.
"I was out doing some chores as I usually do when I remembered it was Wednesday and thought I’d pick up a ticket."
The woman checked the ticket the following day and didn't think much of it until the winning music played and the Lotto operator told her she had won Powerball.
"When the lady showed me the receipt, I thought it said $1,200, but she soon told me: "Not $1,200… $12 million!"
The Whakatāne woman's win is the ninth Powerball to be struck in 2022.
The winning ticket was worth $12.25 million, with $12 million from Powerball First Division and $250,000 from Lotto First Division.
After she found out she had won she went home and told her son about the win.
"Mum was cool as a cucumber. She calmly told me she had won Lotto… but she didn’t tell me how much, so when I went round and saw the ticket and claim form, I was blown away," her son said.
The woman plans to let her win sink in before making any drastic decisions but would like to do some home renovations or go travelling.
"This win represents freedom and will help our family a lot."
The mother and her son travelled to Auckland to claim the prize money and are looking forward to celebrating.
"I can’t wait to celebrate I think we’ll have some fine wine and dining while we’re in Auckland,” she said.
