Young Auckland woman wins Saturday's $10 million Powerball prize: 'I just stood there shaking in my nightie'

The winner of Saturday's $10 million Lotto Powerball draw was a young Auckland woman. Photo / Lotto NZ

A young Auckland woman was in shock when she thought she'd won $10,000 in Saturday's Lotto Powerball draw - only to learn she'd won the $10 million jackpot.

The winner, who wished to remain anonymous, was visiting her parents last weekend and was in bed when she realised she'd won a prize.

"I was in bed checking social media and all those kinds of things when I thought I might as well see if I'd won anything on my ticket," she said.

"I saw 'You have won $10,166,667' pop up next to my ticket I instantly jumped out of bed and raced to the lounge to tell Mum and Dad.

"I just stood there shaking in my nightie holding my phone towards them and said, 'Guys - I've won $10,000!' I was beside myself.

"Dad was pretty sceptical so grabbed my phone to double check what I was seeing - that's when he said, 'Honey, that says $10 million, not $10,000'."

The trio was "absolutely stunned".

"I raced around the house to check my ticket on every phone and computer we could lay our hands on," the winner said.

"I must have logged in and checked it 100 times that night."

The woman decided to buy a ticket as the proceeds were going to quake-ravaged Kaikoura.

"I was out shopping with Mum when she stopped by the supermarket to pick up a few things for dinner, but it was raining and miserable so I decided to stay in the car.

"That's when I remembered about Saturday's special Lotto draw for Kaikoura, so I grabbed my phone and bought a ticket on MyLotto."

She planned to use some of the money to reunite her family for the first time in more than a decade.

"My siblings have been living overseas for years now, working hard to try and save enough to come back home one day, buy a house and be close to our parents again.

"When I found out I'd won, I knew I could help them out, so I video called them to share the good news. I was in tears when they picked up the call, so they immediately thought something bad had happened.

"That's when I managed to squeak out between sobs 'I've won Lotto - and I'm giving you $1 million'," said the winner.

"It took a bit of convincing, but when they realised I wasn't joking they just lost it."

She also planned to have a "little shopping spree", go out for a nice dinner with her parents and pursue her passions, including helping animals.

"Other than that, I'm not too sure what I'll do with my winnings. At the moment, I'm just looking forward to everyone coming home.

"This win is a real gift and I want to make it last."

She said she might still buy the odd Lotto ticket.

It was the third Powerball First Division prize won by a MyLotto player so far this year.

The $2.7 million raised through the draw is going to Kaikoura, Hurunui and Marlborough to help with the quake recovery.