Paul and Louise Drake, 47, from Seafield, West Lothian, Scotland, just discovered that they had won the National Lottery’s £5,162,779 (approx. $7,134,263) Lotto jackpot. Paul was sitting in his car at around 4:30 am, preparing to head to work, when he found out that he had just become a multi-millionaire.
When he realized that he had won, Paul ran back into the house to wake up his wife, who was at first worried that something was wrong when she heard him shouting. The winners are both essential workers who have been steadily pushing forward through the pandemic. Paul left his job as a production operator with the supermarket Lidl following his win in early August 2021. His wife, Louise, is a district nurse.
Now, the couple is planning trips to New York and Florida with their two sons, aged 11 and 15, and have been looking into buying a Porsche and a Range Rover. Paul bought his Lotto Lucky Dip tickets from the One Stop store in Seafield, and all six of the main numbers – 23, 26, 34, 36, 44, and 59 – matched the drawing in late July. The report was confirmed by National Lottery operator Camelot.
The father of two said that he typically is organized with his lotto playing but happened to grab three of the lottery tickets when he was out rushing around with his kids. He said the winning ticket did not leave his side for a week before he found out he had won. Keep reading to learn more about this lucky winner.
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Getting such life-changing news so early in the morning was difficult to process at first. Paul said to The Sun: “I car share with two colleagues, and it was my turn to do the driving. It was about 4:30 in the morning and I was just getting into the car when I had this niggling feeling to check my Lotto Lucky Dip numbers. I checked my ticket and just sat there in shock.”
He continued, “Now, I’m not an emotional guy but I just burst into tears. I ran back into the house screaming and woke Louise up to tell her. We just couldn’t believe it. As I was the designated driver that day I still had to go and pick up the guys for work. It was so hard to keep it to myself. I went into the office and just said I wouldn’t be able to come in that day.”
When something like this happens, you will often see a change in the way the winners are treated by their friends, neighbors, and even family members. Fortunately, this has not been the case for Paul and Louise. “The guys who I drove to work knew something was up and that I was acting strangely so it wasn’t long before people guessed. Our friends, family and colleagues are over the moon for us, they’re really chuffed, which is great,” Paul shared.
The Drakes say that the money will not change who they are. Louise added, “I’ll still chase a bargain and I definitely won’t be paying £6.50 for a bacon roll at the golf club.”
What would you do if you became a multi-millionaire overnight? Would you tell anyone? Let us know what you think, and be sure to pass this story along to your friends and family!
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