After more than a week of speculation and waiting, the winners of the $33.5 million Lotto Powerball jackpot have finally claimed their prize.
Now, Lotto has revealed the winners, a Christchurch couple, wanted to process their win for a few days.
In a statement, the couple said they were "overwhelmed by the magnitude of the win" and needed some time to think.
They discovered they were going to be millionaires late on Wednesday night when the woman checked the ticket before going to bed.
“I looked the numbers up online and started checking each line of the ticket. The winning line was right at the bottom, and the numbers just sort of jumped out at me – all of them,” she said.
“I couldn’t breathe at first – I was almost hyperventilating.”
Rushing to the bedroom, the woman woke her husband so he could double-check the ticket.
“My husband had already gone to bed, so I woke him up and said, ‘Can you please check this for me? These numbers are dancing on the paper. Is it actually real?’”
In a daze, he checked the numbers - confirming they had won.
“It was hard to get back to sleep after that,” he said.
What followed was a tense few days, where the couple had to play it cool while deciding what they’d do with all the money.
“We wanted to keep things normal while we thought about our next steps.
“I’d keep things cool during the day but then come home and cry – tears of happiness, of course, but it was also a lot to take in,” the woman said.
Hiding their lucky yellow ticket in a sock drawer, the couple admitted the following few days were “nerve-wracking”.
“I kept thinking, ‘goodness, I better make sure the iron is turned off’ every time I went out.”
Now, with their jackpot finally claimed, the couple are looking forward to what the money can do for their future.
“This will help us set up our family for generations to come. It is also enough for us to help community causes we care about over the long term and make a lasting difference – and that is what we are focused on,” the man said.
“Winning this is definitely a defining moment of our lives.”
It is the third largest Lotto and Powerball single-ticket prize.
Their ticket was brought at Fresh Choice Merivale in Christchurch.
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