Lucky $7 million Lotto winner comes forward

The winning ticket was bought at Pak 'n Save on Saturday. File photo

A Timaruvvian who won $7 million in Powerball slept with the ticket every night before claiming the winnings.

The winning family, who wish to remain anonymous, said they still couldn't quite believe they'd won Saturday night's Powerball First Division even after checking the ticket "about a hundred times.

"I slept with the ticket every night since we found out we'd won, I didn't let it out of my hands," one family member said.

"But in saying that, I've hardly slept at all. I'm looking forward to getting some sleep after all of this!"

The family - who have won Timaru's biggest ever Lotto prize - had bought weekly Lotto tickets since it began but never thought they'd actually win big.

"We saw online on Saturday night that someone in Timaru had won $7 million, so I thought I may as well check our ticket.

"I honestly never thought we'd win, but in the back of my mind I was thinking 'that would be nice'.

"But when I pulled up the results on MyLotto, I saw we had four numbers in a row and I panicked and turned the computer off.

"I was just so nervous. After a couple of deep breaths, I turned the computer back on and checked the rest of the numbers - and they were all there. My hands started shaking. It just felt so unreal."

The family bought the ticket at Timaru Pak'nSave. They flew to Lotto New Zealand's head office in Auckland to claim the prize.

They intended to use the winnings on several things, including helping family, buying property and travel.

"I'm a huge fan of the Rugby Sevens, maybe I could follow the boys on the 2016 World Series tournaments?

"But right now, we're going to hit the shops!"