A Thames couple have come forward to claim a Lotto prize of more $27 million.
The winning Lotto ticket, worth $27.3m. Photo: Lotto
The lucky couple, who wished to remain anonymous, have collected the fourth biggest prize ever handed out, and the question of who the winner is has been the talk of the little Coromandel town.
"It still doesn't seem real," said the winner in a statement released today. "I keep crying every time I think about it."
The couple said they did not check their ticket until late Sunday.
"We were having a cup of tea and just started talking about it and wondering who had won. Then we figured we should check our ticket, so at least we would know one way or the other.
"So we pulled up the Lotto results on the computer and instantly the winning numbers just leapt out at me. I didn't even need to circle any of them, they all just lined up on the top row.
"I couldn't breathe! I kept trying to speak, but nothing would come out," the winner said.
The winners said a new house and an overseas holiday were on their shopping list, but safekeeping for their family's future was their top priority.
