A few sleepless nights for $10m Powerball winner, Wairoa local

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The past few days have been a “blur” for one lucky Wairoa local after they won $10.3 million in Powerball last Saturday.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, is a regular player who bought a Power Dip earlier in the week from the Wairoa New World supermarket.

“I was watching the live draw on Saturday night and started marking the numbers down on my ticket one by one,” the winner said.

“All of a sudden, I had four matching numbers and then five. I yelled, ‘I’ve got five numbers!’ I was so happy.

“But then I realised I had more numbers, and when I circled the Powerball, I stood up in shock,” the winner said.

“My whānau couldn’t believe it — they checked the ticket three times because they thought I’d gotten it wrong!”

Once the reality of the situation sank in, they started to “jump around and cry”.

“I couldn’t sit still and was in a stupor for the rest of the evening,” the winner said.

After a restless couple of nights, the winner says they’ve “calmed down” after claiming their prize on Monday.

“Things are a bit more settled now — I had about four hours of sleep last night, which was good!” the winner said.

After a tough year filled with “challenges”, the winner is “thankful for this prize and looking forward to the future”.

And what does the future hold? The winner plans to “carry on life as normal” but is excited to invest their winnings and help their whānau.

“This year has brought us closer together,” the winner said.

This is the 11th Powerball First Division winner of 2023.

The $10.3 million Powerball prize was made up of $10 million from Powerball First Division and $333,333 from Lotto First Division.