€125m lotto winner: I treated myself to a second-hand motor
Steve buys family new runaround
WITH €125million in the bank, he is richer than footballer Gareth Bale, but lotto winner Steve Thomson is still grafting to “feel normal”.
And the only treat builder Steve, 42, and wife Lenka, 41, have allowed themselves since winning the Euromillions jackpot last month is a second-hand car. As he loaded up his works van, Steve told how the win put him on an “emotional rollercoaster”. He said: “It has been very stressful. I’m still not sleeping, I’m still not eating properly. It’s a lot to take in.”
But Steve said going back to work part-time this week was helping him to cope. He said: “I feel normal and that’s how I want to stay. I’m trying to finish some jobs before Christmas. I won’t be able to finish all of them, but I’m doing what I can between meetings.” He and Lenka, who have three children, were revealed as the winners of the ninth
EUROMILLIONS WINNER
biggest Euromillions jackpot last month. Shop worker Lenka has already quit her job at a convenience store near their home in Selsey, West Sussex, but Steve said: “I am going to keep working, but whether it’s doing what I do now…
“I’ve got too much to think about with Christmas and family now. But of course I have got to finish the jobs I have got on.
“I said I am going to do the jobs, so I’ve got to, I can’t go back on my word.”
He has no plans to start frittering away his fortune. Flashy cars are “a waste of money” so the new family runabout is second-hand.
Steve said: “It’s a couple of years old. I haven’t splashed out. I’m not going to go out and start to splash it around, it still hasn’t sunk in.”
The couple do plan to move from their €142,000, three-bedroom house so their sons, aged 10 and 15, and daughter, eight, can have bedrooms of their own.
But there is a very happy Christmas to organise first. Steve said: “We haven’t had a chance to buy any presents yet.
“My main priority is Christmas, then trying to find somewhere to live. And then my three main commitments are family, friends, community – that’s it.
“Once they’re happy, I can enjoy it.”
I’m still not sleeping or eating properly... It is a lot to take in STEVE THOMSON