Dh7 million winner to share prize with ticket partners
abu dhabi — On Thursday, Big Ticket Abu Dhabi organisers called Manekudy Varkey Mathew to congratulate him on winning Dh7 million but his phone wasn’t reachable. After two days of chasing, Mathew was finally tracked down in his native city of Kochi, Kerala.
“My phone fell in the water and I couldn’t use it. The Big Ticket organisers contacted me today (Sunday),” Mathew said over the phone from Kochi. The 58-year-old, who works in Al Ain Distribution Company, said the lottery was “God’s gift”.
Mathew had been trying his luck at Big Ticket ever since the raffle draw was first introduced at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. And it was a ticket bought on August 24 from the airport this year that brought him luck.
“This is bigger returns to my investment for all these years. I will split the prize money with two other partners, as they had paid for half of the ticket’s cost. So, I will share half of it (Dh3.5 million) with the two — Cyril de Silva from Indian and Dil Murad from Pakistan.”
In the event that he did not claim the prize money within six months, it would have gone to charity, the organisers said.
What does he plan to do with the amount? “I don’t have any plans. I never plan anything in life. If my planning had worked, I would have never won this. Two months ago, I was supposed to return to India for good, but it got delayed,” he noted.
Mathew will discuss with his family about what they are going to
This is bigger returns to my investment for all these years. I will split the prize money with two other partners as they had paid for half of the ticket’s cost.” Varkey Mathew, winner, Big Ticket Abu Dhabi
do with this unexpected windfall.
“Boney, my son, is going to the US for higher studies and Merly, my daughter, is a special needs child,” he said.
Wife Chinnamma Mathew works at a hospital in Al Ain and is now happy that she will be able to spend more time with her daughter, who is based in Kerala. “Merly is in Kochi. My husband and I keep shuttling to India to be with her. She was with us here in Al Ain but is now in Kochi so she can get better treatment. With this raffle draw, we can return to Kerala soon enough and be with her. God has seen our plight and blessed us,” Chinnamma said, while taking time out from her nursing duties. Meanwhile, Mathew said he is being flooded with calls from friends and family members. “I can’t go out and my phone rings nonstop. All this is new to me. For the first time in my life, I won the lottery. I don’t know what to say.”
Mathew will be back in Al Ain on September 17. “Everyone will be waiting there for me, especially my partners. The winning ticket is with me,” he chuckled.