From shock and bewilderment to excitement and relief, a Whakatāne winner has been on a wild rollercoaster since winning $1 million in Lotto First Division last Saturday.

The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they weren’t entirely sure how much they had won until getting a call from Lotto NZ.

“I said to them ‘oh, my goodness, is it really one million’?”

“I thought it was, but I was waiting for confirmation before I got too excited,” they laughed.

The winner logged into MyLotto on Saturday night to check their ticket and was surprised to see they were a Major Prize Winner.

“I had to scroll down before I saw all my numbers lined up. I couldn’t believe it – I was jumping up and down and shouted to my family, ‘Check these numbers, check these numbers!’

“I was shocked. I saw that someone in Whakatāne had won, so I thought it had to be me, but I still didn’t want to get my hopes up.

“I was so hyped and didn’t go to bed until late on Saturday night. The next day, I thought I would just act normal and not think about it.”

Now that the win – and amount – is confirmed, the lucky winner said, “It will make such a difference to my life. It gives me the financial freedom to pay off my mortgage.”

While the winner “hasn’t made any big plans” yet, they are looking forward to celebrating their life-changing win by going out for dinner with family.

The winning Lotto First Division ticket was sold on MyLotto for the draw on Saturday, 4 March 2023.

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