A simple Mother's Day gift turned into much more for a lucky New Plymouth woman on Sunday.
According to Lotto, the woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, was handed the ticket in her Mother’s Day card by her daughter who had bought it earlier in the week.
Little did she know inside was a $5.3 million winning ticket in Lotto Powerball's First Division.
However, her daughter was certainly in the know as she heard in the news that Powerball First Division had been won in New Plymouth and decided to check the ticket before popping it in the card for mum.
Prior to visiting, her daughter looked up the numbers online and realised it was the winner.
She told Lotto she popped the ticket back in the card and when she arrived at her mother's house, she said "mum, [you have to] open your card first".
“I pulled out the ticket, and she insisted I check the numbers straight away – and brought up the Lotto results on her phone. I went through the first line, circling one number after another, after another…until finally I had all of them circled, right there on the first line. I couldn’t believe it – I felt completely numb,” the mother said.
With so much to celebrate, the family carried on with their plans for Mother’s Day but topped the occasion off with a bottle of champagne and fish and chips for dinner.
“The kids were so excited! It was certainly a Mother’s Day to remember.”
With the prize officially claimed, the woman is looking forward to making the most of the winnings.
“I always said if I won Lotto I would use the money to help out the kids. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do – and maybe take the family on holiday at some point.
“My husband said he’d quite like a new car – but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the one he’s got!”
The winning ticket was purchased at Countdown Vogeltown in New Plymouth for the draw on Saturday 7 May.
This is the sixth time Powerball First Division has been struck in 2022.
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