$5.3 million Lotto winner was watching Rugby Sevens final while checking ticket

A person in Ashburton has won $5.3m after buying their ticket online. Photo / Michael Bradley

As the nation celebrated a gold medal win on Saturday night, a lucky woman from Canterbury was celebrating a win of her own after finding out she had won the Lotto jackpot of $5.3 million.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was sitting down to watch the women's Sevens final on Saturday evening when she decided to check the Lotto ticket she had bought on MyLotto that week.

"I was sitting on the couch next to my husband when I opened the Lotto NZ App and checked my ticket with one eye on my phone and other on the rugby," she explained.

"When I heard the winning tune play, I looked down at my phone and couldn't believe what I was seeing – I was just sitting there staring at the ticket. My husband turned to me and said 'have you won another Bonus Ticket?', to which I turned the phone to him and said 'it's something a bit bigger than that!"

The sevens firmly forgotten, the couple sat together in the lounge checking and re-checking their winning ticket.

"My hands were shaking as we sat there checking the ticket together. I couldn't even read out the number I was seeing – first I said $5333, then $53,333… all the way up to $5,333,333. When we realised just how much we had won we both had smiles a mile wide plastered on our faces – I'll never forget that moment."

With the prize now safely in their bank account, the couple are looking forward to making the most of their winnings.

"I'm a big believer in not forgetting your roots and staying grounded. For us, this win is all about family – we want to make sure we set up the future generations. It's an incredible feeling knowing that this prize will make such a big difference in not just our lives, but in the lives of our children and our children's children.

"You always dream of winning Powerball and imagine what you'd do if you won big – it's all part of the fun of it – but I truly never believed that I would win something this big. I just feel so incredibly lucky."