£33m on the lotto ... now we can trade in our old Fiesta!
Couple’s record win, but 2nd ticket stays unclaimed
HE had dreamt of the moment many times, but when David Martin realised he’d won the lottery he found there was only one way to celebrate – a nice cup of tea.
Mr Martin and wife Carol scooped £33million on Saturday with a lucky dip ticket – but did not even check their numbers until the next day.
The couple, both 54, were revealed yesterday to have claimed half of Britain’s biggest ever National Lottery jackpot – though the other winner has not yet come forward.
Project manager Mr Martin said the first purchase from his £33,035,323 would be a pair of £200 brogues.
And his wife, who works in Boots, said she would like to replace their Ford Fiesta.
Within a few hours, however, Mr Martin decided he also fancied a trip to space.
The couple, who said they will retire, are planning to trade their modest three-bedroom semi – worth £175,0000 – for something grander, but still plan to stay in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. They also said that they would like to help victims of the recent flooding in the area.
Last night it emerged they were not the first lottery winners in their street – their next-door neighbour was in a syndicate that won £500,000.
Brian Nichol, 59, won in 2002, though his share was just £9,400. And it is believed they are the third millionaire winners in their town.
The couple, who have been married 28 years, yesterday said they had been ‘ completely unaware’ that the Lotto ticket on their man- telpiece was a winner. They had been eating a breakfast of black pudding and bacon when a friend urged them to check their tickets.
‘I had three lines, all lucky dip tickets, and as Carol called out the numbers, I realised that the first line matched up one by one,’ Mr Martin said. ‘We must have checked it another ten times or more. I’ve dreamt of this moment many times but when it actually came, it was just a total shock.
‘ We were both stunned into silence. We kept rechecking the numbers as we thought there must be a mistake. Then we called Camelot to see if it could possibly be true. The lady at the end of the phone was really nice and told us we were right, we were winners.
‘All we could do was drink lots of hot tea and try and make sense of it all. The information just wasn’t going in.’
When Camelot sent round some bubbly, they had to dash to the supermarket to buy £5 champagne flutes. The Martins won half the Lotto jackpot of more than £66million – the result of 14 rollovers – by matching six numbers.
The other winner has not come forward, which Camelot said was ‘highly unusual’ because of the publicity surrounding the record draw.
If they do not claim their winnings within 180 days of the draw, the money goes to good causes.
The odds of winning the rollover jackpot were 45million to one and the Martins won with an extra lucky dip bought from Morrisons.
Their fortune is now on par with those of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson and pop star Ed Sheeran.
But at a Press conference yesterday, the couple insisted: ‘We were happy without the money.’
Mr Martin said suffering from a heart condition had helped put his win into perspective. He said: ‘There’s a famous saying: “Your health is your wealth.” You can’t do anything if you’re not fit or able to appreciate the £30million.’
The first person they told was daughter Lisa, 26, who lives in Melbourne, Australia. ‘She couldn’t believe it and thought we were pulling her leg,’ Mr Martin said. One of their first purchases will be her plane ticket home.
They said they had decided to go public about their win after deciding it would be ‘impossible’ to keep it a secret. ‘You can’t hide £30million,’ Mr Martin said.