$24 million winner emerges

A man who won a $24 million jackpot last Saturday only found out on Wednesday morning when he had his ticket checked.

The New Plymouth man, who wishes to remain anonymous, celebrated his win with “a spicy takeaway and a couple of beers”.

He is a regular player who picked up his ticket earlier that week on a trip into town.

“I picked up my usual Triple Dip ticket while I was running some errands.”

The man had not heard that Powerball had been won, and wasn’t in a rush to check his tickets, only realising on Wednesday morning when he went to grab breakfast.

“It’s hard to describe how I was feeling, I think I was so focused on filling in the paperwork and making sure it was confirmed that my mind couldn’t really process that I had won $24 million — the odds are so low, I kept thinking, ‘how jammy is that?’.”

Later that evening, he decided he needed to have a little celebration.

“I finished work and went to grab a spicy takeaway and a couple of beers. I took them home and celebrated being a millionaire, it felt good to relax for a bit.”

The man is looking forward to his future.

“I would like to get away and decompress for a little while, so I think I’m going to book myself a holiday somewhere warm and sandy,” he said.

The multimillion-dollar ticket was purchased from Bell Block Supermarket in New Plymouth.— NZ Herald