An Auckland grandmother who won more than $28 million on Lotto says the winnings will "make such a difference to our family".
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, claimed the prize on Monday.
Her winning ticket was sold at Meg Star in Auckland, for the draw on Saturday March 26.
The winning numbers were: 02, 05, 11, 20, 23, 25 Bonus 35 Powerball 04.
"I saw the store owners speaking on the news on Sunday night and I thought 'huh, that's where I bought my ticket'," the woman said.
"I was really happy for the owners, they seemed thrilled. I imagined a little about what I would do if I was the lucky winner – but that was it, I didn't seriously think it was me."
But while out shopping on Monday, the woman decided to check her tickets.
"I had a couple of tickets I needed to check, and I put them through the self-checker. One of them won me a bonus ticket, which I thought was pretty good, then when I scanned the next one I saw 'First Division' appear on the screen," she said.
"I just couldn't make sense of it, so I took the ticket to the counter and asked the lady to check it again for me. That's when she called the store owner over and they pointed at the sign saying 'big winner sold here' and whispered to me 'that’s you'."
The woman had been carrying the ticket worth $28.16m around in her handbag over the weekend.
"My heart started racing, I just couldn't believe it," she recalled.
"The owner took me out the back of the store to let me know exactly how much I'd won and sort out the paperwork somewhere private, which was good, because by that stage I was shaking and crying, I was so overwhelmed."
On her way home the woman called her daughter and asked her to come home as soon as possible.
Thinking of a family emergency, her daughter recalled the moment she arrived at her mum's house.
"When I got to Mum's place, she pulled me aside and said, 'It's me – I've won the $28 million'. I just stared at her for a moment, then burst into tears, and Mum started crying too.
"We just stood there in a quiet corner of the house crying, then laughing, then crying again for a long time."
The woman said she'll take some time to think about how to spend her new fortune, but knows it'll be centered around family.
"I'm going to take some time to work out what I want to do next, but would love to buy a house – that's always been a dream of mine. And I'd love to have a swimming pool for my kids and grandchildren to enjoy," she said.
"This win means so much to us and will make such a difference to our family – I feel so incredibly lucky."
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