The nervous wait is over for an Auckland woman who rode the bus to claim her $17.2 million winnings.
"I was sitting on the bus saying to myself 'keep it cool, keep it cool' but I was looking around me thinking ‘I’m sitting here with a $17 million ticket,'" the winner said in a statement.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, kept the winning ticket in a safe place for two weeks while she waited for Lotto NZ’s Auckland head office to reopen in the new year.
"I haven’t been sleeping since I found out about my win, I woke up this morning at 4 am. I’m looking forward to getting a good rest and am so excited for the future - this win is truly going to be life-changing," she said.
The woman said she was at home when she checked her ticket.
"As I checked each number and one by one saw they matched the ones on my ticket… well, it was truly a surreal experience," said the woman in a statement.
"I was at home by myself and I was so excited, but I also started crying - I felt so overwhelmed."
She called her mother who she said in 'mum style' immediately started giving her advice on how to invest it.
The next day the winner was travelling on the bus where she saw the news that an Aucklander had won Powerball pop up on a bus TV screen.
"I was like – that is me! And I just had to keep telling myself to keep it cool, but I had a big smile on my face," said the woman.
The woman was a regular lotto player and had chosen her own Lotto numbers for the Powerball draw on Saturday 29 December.
The winner told Lotto she is looking forward to using the money to help her family and invest for her future.
The winning ticket was sold at Victoria Street Lotto and Newsagency for the draw on Wednesday 29 December 2021.
It was the final time Lotto Powerball was struck in 2021.
