Local shares her joy at lifechanging Lotto win
Grateful Rana hopes her story brightens the day for others
Anew millionaire’s lifechanging trip to the store to check her Lotto ticket was made using a $10 top-up of fuel lent to her by the owner of a nearby service station.
Rana, of Maraenui, who is on a jobseeker benefit for medical reasons, claimed the $1 million win from the suburb’s Four Square last week, from a ticket bought at Andrew Spence Pharmacy in Onekawa.
The 23-year-old Hawke’s Bay woman has decided to publicly share her delight about winning the prize from a ticket she says was a gift.
She wants the joy from her story of rags to relative riches to brighten the days of others and she wants the chance to show her gratitude to those close to her who she says have raised her to triumph over adversity.
Hawke’s Bay Today has decided to share only her first name because of the risk of targeted harassment that big money winners can face. Rana is also aware of that risk. Since learning of her win, she said, she had been helped by her close wha¯nau to make the best decisions with her money.
She had also spoken with Lotto advisers and planned to speak to a financial adviser.
She had big plans for the future, but her firm focus was on supporting her wha¯nau. “I still think we are in a dream, I don’t even think it’s real and we are living a dream.”
She comes from a low-income household where the struggle to pay bills was a regular occurrence. “When we were growing up we had to share things, we always got hand-me-down stuff, it was never brand new, my mum could never afford it.”
She was immensely grateful for her upbringing as it had taught her how to live with nothing, and made the win worth “so much more” to her.
Breaking the cycle of poverty appeared unlikely before the win.
Rana has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and also suffers from epileptic seizures. She struggles to find work as a result.
Instead, she volunteers regularly with the Napier Christian Fellowship.
Since her win, a lot of people had been messaging her and congratulating her, but others were also asking for money, she said. “I know who was there when we were struggling and I know who the real people are, and those are the people I will look after.”
She said stopping to check the tickets at Maraenui Four Square was an off-the-cuff decision, but she got an “intense feeling” that she should do it as she drove past.
“Something just told me to stop and check the ticket.”
To her delight, the first ticket she scanned won $68 and she realised she could pay her petrol bill.
When the second ticket was scanned the machine stopped.
The checkout operator called in Maraenui Four Square owner Kuljit Parihar, who called Lotto HQ, and confirmed a winning figure. Ten minutes after the machine stopped, she put it up on the screen: $1 million.
Rana burst into tears and ran from the store. “I had to run out . . . and tell the other person in the car . . . to come in and check to make sure that I wasn’t lying or seeing things. “There was so much excitement.” She hopes to invest the money and eventually buy a house and take the family on a cruise.
She also has dreams of what the money could bring if her investments are wise and it grows.
She wants to build a place for young people, like her, where they can go when they are struggling, to feel safe and not judged.
For now, though, she has bought her sister and her mother a new phone and splashed out on one for herself, too — one with a new number.
Lotto NZ has a winner’s book that it gives to every major winner. In it, it lists a range of advice, from how to seek financial advice to deciding who you should tell.
It notes the best thing to do on discovering you’re a winner is to put your money in the bank and leave it there while you come back to earth.
“You may like to take out a small amount to play with while you make the big decisions.
“At the same time, you should work out a plan of exactly what you want to do with your money.
“Too many spur-of-the-moment decisions can put other goals out of your reach, which is why a timetable of action — what you want to do over the next few months — is a great idea.”
Lotto says seeking advice from a professional financial adviser is key.