Sisters Win A Share In Lotto First Division

Media Release 2 April 2007

Golden Girl Siblings Each Win A Share In Lotto First Division

Three sisters, who have been sharing the same line of Lotto numbers for 20 years, have each collected a $111,111 First Division Lotto prize, says NZ Lotteries Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.

"The lucky Lotto line is made up of family birthdays and we've each been using it for the past 20 years," say the winning siblings.

All three sisters, who refer to themselves as 'The Girls Club' turned up to NZ Lotteries in Wellington together, to collect their prizes. With them they brought a bottle of bubbles and brand new, matching glasses with their winning Lotto numbers printed onto them.

The women, who also brought along an entourage of family members and friends when they collected their prizes, each had their own story to tell about their win and the excitement that has followed since they found out on Saturday night.

"I started to jump around the room squealing... then I had to ring my sisters," said one, who was the first to discover their win.

"I put my ticket in the freezer overnight," said another. "We thought it would be safe there if the house burnt down or something."

"I just left mine in my handbag," said the third.

One of the lucky sisters was moved to tears at the realisation she will no longer have a mortgage until the age of 87.

"It's just so wonderful, these are happy tears," she explained.

Each agrees that the whole winning experience has been very exciting and a lot of fun.

"It's just so amazing, I find myself wanting to tell people about it," says one of the winners.

The sisters' winning tickets were three of nine winning First Division tickets won on Saturday's Lotto draw. One was purchased at Johnsonville Mall Lotto in Wellington and the other two at Lotto and Wild Thingz in Christchurch.

"Someone said to me when I told them, 'How do you feel sharing First Division with eight other people?' And I said 'Wonderful, because two of them are my sisters.'"

ENDS

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