New Zealand's luckiest Lotto winner says winning was extremely stressful and it took a year before she stopped shaking and looking over her shoulder.
The Dunedin woman said she believed in luck "but I can still not understand how I could have won Lotto twice".
In April last year, she won a total of $10,845,530, with $9,785,562 from Powerball first division and $1,059,968 from Lotto first division.
New Zealand Lotteries does not record how many people have won Lotto twice, but earlier this week a Martinborough man claimed $1.46 million after a $250,000 first-division collect 12 years earlier.
The Dunedin double winner had previously won a few hundred thousand in first division, making her the winner of New Zealand's largest combined Lotto prize, New Zealand Lotteries spokeswoman Karen Jones said.
The family remained in Dunedin "working harder than ever" in the same jobs, had recently purchased land to build a new house, bought a new bike each, and upgraded their children's cars.
"Life has changed for us in that we do not have the stress of thinking about doing all the little things that we had to really consider carefully before, such as going out for a meal or to a concert," she said.
She acknowledged the win had changed her, and she had become more aware of those people struggling to make ends meet, those with ill health and young families in need.
Her advice to anyone winning a large amount of money was "to be very careful".
Initially investing "99% of my winnings" in a 12-month term deposit, she withdrew her funds from a major bank after an abortive interview.
"Another bank wealth manager acted as if the interview was all about him and told me about all the houses he owned and all about his life," she said.
"I then closed all my accounts with that bank and no-one even asked why. I now have a very competent and helpful investment manager that I have every confidence in."
She still played Lotto and Big Wednesday every week.
"You may think that having such a large amount of money would be the answer to everything ... It's not.
"It is extremely stressful, especially when trying to remain anonymous. It took me a year to stop shaking and looking over my shoulder."
Ms Jones said New Zealand Lotteries was not a registered financial adviser and could not provide financial or legal advice to winners.
However, it provided winners with comprehensive advice on the financial and emotional aspects of winning a large prize, and advised them to seek good financial and legal advice.
