Inglewood abuzz over $22m winning ticket
Inglewood was buzzing last week with the news a winning Lotto ticket, worth over $22 million, had been sold at a local store.
Last Thursday, after news of the Wednesday evening draw spread through the town, Loraine Reeve was kept busy at the Inglewood Book Centre checking customers’ tickets throughout the day.
She said she and her husband were hoping it might be a local who won, although she says there were a lot of visitors and tourists coming through the town and buying tickets.
“We get lots of people passing through, as well as people who are visiting Inglewood for a while over the holidays, so while it might be a local, it could just as easily be someone from somewhere else in the country.”
Loraine has worked at the business for more than 24 years, and she and her husband David bought it just over 10 years ago. Soon after they bought it, they sold a ticket which won $1 million she says, “but never anything as big as this win”.
The win last week was a $22m Powerball prize plus a $333,333 first division win, an amount Loraine says would certainly be “life changing” for the winner.
“There’s so much you could do with that money, you could have a lot of fun, but also do a lot of good.”
When they realised they had sold the ticket, Loraine says she and her husband did talk about what they would do had they won it themselves.
“David said one of the first things would be to give some money to Marinoto Resthome.
“They are fundraising currently for some of the money needed to build a new hospital wing, it would be great just to give them the rest of the money they need to reach their target.”
Loraine says she and her husband heard from a friend that they had sold the winning ticket.
She says the winner hadn’t brought in the winning ticket yet, but she hoped they would bring it to her shop.
Angela Mackie was one of the many to call into the shop on Thursday to check her tickets.
“We don’t buy Lotto every week, just every now and then when it is a big prize like this. Because we bought the ticket from the store, when we heard its where the winning ticket came from I didn’t want to check it online last night. I wanted to have the possibility for a bit longer so waited until today to come in and check.”
While Angela’s ticket didn’t have the winning numbers, she says she still enjoyed the few hours of possibility.
“Dreams are free I suppose, and I have bought another ticket now, after all, it’s obviously a lucky shop!”
The prize was claimed last week, with a young woman who lives in Inglewood the lucky winner.
While saying she wishes to remain anonymous, the young woman has been happy to describe the circumstances around discovering the multimillion-dollar ticket — at home while watching a movie.
“I was tucked up in bed early on Wednesday night watching a movie on my laptop, when all of a sudden a family member rushed into my bedroom.”
With news of the local win well known among the Inglewood community, the family member knew the woman had recently bought a Lotto ticket and urged her to check it.
“When he turned and told me I’d won, I knew he wasn’t joking this time. His face had completely changed and he even had tears in his eyes — and he never cries,” she said.
The winner rushed over to another family member’s house to celebrate the news.
“As soon as I walked in the door, they guessed what had happened straight away. I think they could just tell on my face that I was in a bit of a shock,” the woman said.
After celebrating the win with a few drinks with family in the backyard, the winner kept her ticket locked away until visiting Lotto HQ in Auckland to claim her prize.
“Honestly, it’s been a bit of whirlwind — it definitely hasn’t sunk in yet,” the woman said.
“I’m just going to take my time to let everything settle — I’ve got my whole life ahead of me and this is a wonderful opportunity. The main thing that’s been on my mind is who I am going to help with this win, how many lives I can change — especially my family.”