Gisborne Family’s Extra Special Fathers’ Day After $28.25 Million Powerball Win

11
September 2026

A Gisborne family have had an extra
special Fathers’ Day, after finding out they had won a
life-changing $28.25 million with Powerball.

The
winner is a regular player who always buys the same ticket
from his local store, Grant Bros.

“I play the same
kind of ticket for each draw, but I always use Powerball 7
because it has special meaning to me,” he said.

On
Sunday morning, unaware there had been a big win in
Gisborne, the man was helping a family member at their
house.

“We were pottering around when another family
member came in and said, ‘Did anyone get a ticket from
Grant Bros. for last night… because somebody won $28
million.’

“I thought to myself ‘that’s nice,
well done to them’ and carried on with what I was
doing,” he said.

“I said, ‘Well if the Powerball
was number 7…we might be in the running you know’ –
which sent one of them sprinting for their
phone.

“They pulled up the numbers and said ‘Look,
it was Powerball 7.’ That’s when the excitement really
started building.”

The winner took out his ticket
and they checked the numbers together.

“They started
reading them out to me, ‘3, 14, 16, 23…’ and before
they could finish, I yelled, ‘31 and
34!’

“That’s when we all started screaming,
jumping and hugging each other,” said the
winner.

“I’ll remember that moment for a long
time.”

After claiming their prize, they gathered the
rest of the family to share the news.

“I started
telling them the story of what happened earlier in the day
and then stopped and said, ‘Well anyway, twenty-eight
million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
later…’

“Seeing the expressions on my family’s
faces when I told them was very special,” he
said.

“To be able to share that moment with my whole
family on Fathers’ Day made it even more memorable. It’s
something I’ll never forget.”

The man is taking
time to let the news sink in before making any big
decisions.

“I am incredibly grateful for this win.
It puts me in a position to be able to help my
family.

“To know that they’ll be looked after,
that they will be set up for the future no matter what,
means more than anything.”

The lucky $28.25 million
winner may well be the final person to win a First Division
Powerball prize under the current 10-ball Powerball
game.

Tomorrow night’s draw is the last under the
current game format and will be a Must Be Won draw. If no
one wins Powerball First Division, the entire $10 million
jackpot will roll down and be shared among players in the
next division where there are winners.

Tickets for the
new 14-ball Powerball game go on sale from Sunday, with the
first draw taking place on Wednesday. Find out
more.

Notes to editors:

• The family
  would like to remain anonymous and do not wish to provide
  further comment at this stage.
• This is the second
  biggest Powerball prize won on a single ticket this
  year.
• The prize is made up of $28 million from
  Powerball First Division and $250,000 from Lotto First
  Division.

Powerball wins in 2026:

© Scoop Media