$8.3m Hawke’s Bay Lotto winners says it is “life-changing”
A Hawke’s Bay couple who won $8.3 million in Lotto Powerball last Saturday have described it as “life-changing”.
The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are regular players who bought a ticket on MyLotto earlier in the week. The $8.3 million Powerball prize is made up of $8 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.
“We fell asleep during the draw but woke up later and decided to check our ticket online,” the woman said.
“I saw four numbers line up, which I thought would be a Bonus Ticket. Then, I had five numbers, then six, and finally, the Powerball!” the woman exclaimed.
“I couldn’t believe it – I was shaking like a leaf. I showed my husband and said, ‘I think we just won $8 million!’”
Her husband was “just as gobsmacked. It was mind-boggling.”
The couple managed to calm down enough to fill out their Prize Claim Form but later found sleep elusive.
“It was a very long night – we couldn’t help but think about all the things we wanted to do,” the woman said.
Now that the couple have had a couple of days to come to terms with their massive win, they’ve started to form a plan.
“We’re not going to squander it. We’re pretty down-to-earth people – we’ll buy some nice things but save and invest the rest for our retirement,” the woman said.
“This is life-changing for us – in a good way!”
