Second Millionaire In A Month
A Central Hawkes Bay engineer has become the second person in a month to win $1 million live on Lotto's Winning Wheel, says NZ Lotteries Chief Executive, Todd McLeay.
"We are so excited after seeing the wheel stop on $1 million. We would have been happy with whatever we had won but winning $1 million is just fantastic and caps off a great weekend," says David.
"My wife and I broke a chicken wish bone standing next to the Winning Wheel before the draw and earlier today my wife wrote out a joke million-dollar cheque so the lucky charms must have worked," he adds.
"I think we'll go back to work before deciding what to spend it on but I know my wife would love a new sewing machine," says David.
David Cooke and his wife Jocelyn are the seventh people to strike the $1 million top Winning Wheel prize. The very first Winning Wheel millionaire was Kathy Laugesen from Whakatane, who spun and won the top prize in September 2005. Most recently, Carol Nairn and seven work-mates from New Plymouth won the top Winning Wheel prize in July.
As part of his prize, David and his wife, Jocelyn, enjoyed a luxury stay at the Duxton Hotel in Wellington, a shopping trip with a stylist for an outfit to wear on the show, and lunch with Lotto presenter Hilary Timmins, leading up to his million-dollar winning spin. David and Jocelyn are recently married and the weekend away was something of a honeymoon for them.
David is an engineer at a meat processing plant and he and Jocelyn live rurally on six acres of farmland just outside Waipukurau. Between them, they have seven children and seven grandchildren. In their free time, David is with the Volunteer Fire Brigade and Jocelyn is a Girl Guide leader in Waipukurau.
David's winning ticket was bought at Paper Plus in Waipukurau.
All Lotto and Powerball players are automatically in the draw to win the opportunity to spin the Winning Wheel, regardless of the type of ticket they buy. Players can check their ticket at any lottery outlet.
Tonight's Winning Wheel ticket was sold by Mayfair Plaza in Panmure, Auckland. The serial number is 719-44382781-20XX.
ENDS