North Otago Family Claim $18.25 Million Powerball Prize

A North Otago family’s dreams came true this Christmas when they discovered on Boxing Day that they had won $18.25 million dollars – the second largest prize won in 2020.

The family, who wish to remain anonymous, are North Otago locals who buy a Triple Dip ticket a few times a month – but treated themselves to tickets for the draws on both the 23rd and 26th of December.

“Our minds are still spinning,” says the man. “We heard that the winning ticket had been bought at the Waitaki New World in Oamaru, which is where we always buy our tickets, but had to wait until we got home to check ours.

“I checked it and couldn’t believe it that we had all of the numbers. I must have checked it ten more times,” laughed the man. Even then he still wasn’t convinced, and scanned the ticket on the MyLotto app scanner – and the words “Major Prize Winner” came up on the screen.

“I shouted out loudly ‘It’s us!’,” said the woman. “I told my children and everyone started crying. We just couldn’t believe it,” she said.

The couple have since visited Waitaki New World to have their win confirmed. “It’s still sinking in,” says the man. “We have so many thoughts swirling around in our heads – it doesn’t feel real yet.”

The family plan to spend the New Year break celebrating their life-changing win, as they let the news sink in.

“It’s very early days and we have a lot to think about – but what we do know is that we want to help people in need. Our goal is to make a difference in the lives of people who really need it – and a win like this allows us to do that.

“We also want to help our children and wider family, and at some stage will probably treat ourselves to a new car,” says the man.

The winning ticket was sold at Waitaki New World in Oamaru for the draw on Saturday 26 December 2020.

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