Mum who felt lucky to beat cancer... then won £61m
She bought a lottery ticket to celebrate after surgery
A MOTHER who cheated cancer felt luck was on her side – and begged her daughters to buy a lottery ticket that scooped £61million.
Sonia Davies, 53, said it seemed like ‘everything was shining down on them’ when she was given the all-clear after a life-saving operation.
The administrative assistant was recovering after having a golf ball-sized tumour removed when she called her children to insist they immediately buy a Euro-Millions ticket.
Feeling like the ‘luckiest people on the planet’, they snapped one up at the last minute – and hit the jackpot.
Miss Davies said yesterday: ‘I felt like I had cheated death and felt so, so lucky.
‘You just feel like, we’re on a roll, let’s buy a lottery ticket because we’re so lucky.
‘I didn’t think we’d win but, when you feel everything is shining down on you, you just go for it.’
Miss Davies, partner Keith Reynolds, 55, daughters Courtney and Stephanie and Stephanie’s boyfriend Steve Powell will split the winnings £12.2million each.
But the modest family, from Monmouthshire in Wales, have no flash plans for their new-found wealth. Undergraduate Courtney, 19, said she wants to pay off her student debts, buy an electric toothbrush and shop in Morrisons from now on instead of Aldi.
Meanwhile Stephanie, 23, and Steve, 30, who recently bought their first house, plan to decorate their home and go on holiday in the Caribbean.
Mr Reynolds, a regional director for a drinks company, went back to work on Monday and said he would continue his job despite becoming a multi-millionaire. Miss Davies, who was diagnosed with a tumour on her parathyroid gland earlier this year, travelled to Florida to have the lump removed and paid £10,000 for the operation.
She went abroad because she felt her condition had not been treated seriously enough in Wales.
‘The operation was an awful lot of money and I felt a bit selfish that I was spending it all on me and not the girls or Keith,’ she said.
‘When I went out to America I did not realise I was so far down the line in terms of my illness. I could
‘Felt like we were on a roll’
not believe that in three years that might have been it for me.’ When Miss Davies was given the all-clear on Wednesday, the couple were left feeling like they were on ‘cloud nine’ – and when Mr Reynolds received an email from Euro-Millions informing him of Friday’s rollover they knew that had to enter.
Miss Davies phoned Stephanie, telling her ‘we’re on a winning streak’ and forced the sales executive to go out on Friday and buy a ticket with 40 minutes to spare before the draw closed.
Stephanie said: ‘They were so insistent I knew we had to do it.’ After finding out about the win on Saturday, she called her mother and Mr Reynolds, who were still travelling home after being delayed for 11 hours in New York.
Miss Davies said: ‘All I could hear was Steph sobbing down the phone and the odd muffled word.
‘I thought she’d told me she’d lost her dog. Then I heard Steve shouting, “we’ve won £61million’’.’
Mr Reynolds said he spent the flight home ‘punching the air’ in excitement while passengers asked why he was so happy.
Courtney, who is studying psychology at Southampton University, now hopes to replace her old VW Fox, which has no air conditioning and wind-up windows.
She added: ‘I can stop shopping in Aldi now and go back to Morrisons. I always wanted an electric toothbrush but I could never bring myself to spend £50 on a toothbrush.’
She is considering doing a masters now that she can afford it.
Miss Davies and Mr Reynolds, who knew each other 30 years ago but lost touch and reunited four years ago through Facebook, believe their win is down to fate. The pair, who live near Ross-on-Wye, say they will share their win with family and friends – although she would also like a new oak-timbered carport for her property.
Mr Reynolds said he has always wanted an Aston Martin but is reluctant it might look ‘a bit flash’
‘We don’t want to court to much attention,’ he said.
The family live in the heart of a lottery hotspot dubbed the Gwent Triangle. Other winners include Les Scadding, 60, who won £45.5million in 2009. Jenny Southall won £8.3million in April 2007.