A woman from Bay of Plenty in New Zealand who won cash aplenty at in Saturday's New Zealand Powerball draw visited the lottery headquarters in Auckland on Tuesday July 22, and claimed her NZD$ 1.5 million prize.
The woman, who has opted to remain anonymous, was one of two players who failed to get the Powerball, but got the six main numbers necessary to scoop a first division win. The other winning ticket was purchased in Wellington.
Many lottery players dream of bagging a big win, but the Bay of Plenty's latest millionaire admitted things were a little different in her case. She had her dreams interrupted when she awoke in the middle of the night with a sudden compulsion to check her ticket. She jumped out of bed, went online, and checked her numbers at once.
"I watched the red circles go around all six of my numbers and quickly realized it was going to be big—I just didn't realize how big," the woman said. "To start with I thought I'd won $1500, so I couldn't believe it when I realized I'd actually won $1.5 million.
As for her plans for the money, the woman admits she has already given the matter a lot of thought. She intends to pay for some renovations on the family home, but above all else she has vowed to look after family members.
"Material things are all good and lovely but in the end it's my family that's important," she said.
