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','' the winner said.
``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.
