A couple from the Scottish Borders have revealed that
they found out they had won Britain's biggest ever Lotto jackpot while tucking
into a bacon and black pudding roll - and celebrated their windfall with lots
of cups of tea because they didn't own champagne flutes.
David and Carol Martin, a husband and wife from Hawick,
have banked £33million - half of the historic £66million jackpot but still the
largest Lotto win in history.
Mr Martin said the couple, both 54, stared at each other
silently for five minutes when they found out they were millionaires, and ever
since have been calling in sick at work until eventually telling their
employers of the white lie this morning.
The handyman and mechanic revealed the first thing he
wanted to do was 'buy myself a nice pair of £200 brogues', a range rover and an
automatic for his wife, who works at a local Boots chemist.
The Martins' winning ticket, bought from Morrisons, was
left on their mantelpiece overnight Saturday and the couple did not check it until
the following morning when prompted to do so by friends.
Mrs Martin said her workmates were 'excited' for her and
had guessed that something was up.
'They know that I'm never sick, so they thought there was
something going on,' she added
They said at a press conference today that another of
their first purchases will be a first-class ticket home for their 26-year-old
daughter Lisa, who is working for a recruitment company in Australia.
Mr Martin, who has a heart condition and will soon need a
minor operation, revealed that she was the first person the couple contacted
when they found out about the win.
He said: 'We caught Lisa on the telephone as she was
driving to work and told her to pull over.
 |
The couple live on a street in Longhope Drive, Hawick,
where the average house is worth in the region of £176,000
|
She thought something bad had happened as we normally
only Skype or WhatSapp her to keep the costs down. So, when we telephoned she
was really worried.
'Then we told her we’ve just won 68 million in Australian
dollars. She couldn’t believe it and thought we were pulling her leg.
The family have not been together for more than a year
but the couple have offered to pay the plane fare home as soon as Lisa can
arrange it.
The Martins said they hoped to be reunited at the weekend
so that they can begin planning their futures at their 'ordinary' semi-detached
home, valued at around £176,000, where Mr Martin's Ford Fiesta is parked
outside. He described it as a 'great little car.
Mrs Martin said: 'Lisa loves it out in Australia and has
been trying to gain residency over there.
'She’s been in Australia for more than five years and we
last saw her at Christmas 2014. We can’t wait to see her again. With all this
going on, it doesn’t seem right not to be together.The couple said that they were in such disbelief at discovering they had all six numbers that they did not say anything to each other for about five minutes.
They had cups of tea because they don't own champagne
flutes, but Mrs Martin said that would soon change, telling Sky News: 'We’ll have
to get a crystal set.
Mr Martin also revealed he was keen to help flood victims
battered by recent storms, while on a personal front he spoke about going to a
number of live sporting events.
He talked about going to Wimbledon and the Masters Golf
tournament and was also keen on buying a holiday home.
The now millionaire also admitted it would be a nice
treat to be able to buy a £200 pair of brogues, while when his wife was asked
what she would like to buy he suggested diamonds.
The couple are unsure what else they will spend the
jackpot on, but Mr Martin is hoping to get a new Range Rover, while his wife
would like an automatic car to help her up the hills around Hawick.
On his first purchase, Mr Martin said: 'It sounds stupid
but (I'd like) just a nice pair of shoes, a pair of brogues at £200. It sounds
really, really stupid but it's just how it is. It will take a little while to
sink in, to be honest.'
The 54-year-old, who works for Borders Care and Repair
which helps elderly and disabled fit equipment in their homes, described the
moment he and his wife realised they had won.
He said: 'My mate Keith had popped over for a chat on
Sunday morning when he mentioned that there had been two Lotto winners in the
big rollover the night before.
'I hadn't checked my ticket, so I removed it from the
mantelpiece and thought I'd take a quick look but for some reason we couldn't
find the results in the paper.
'After Keith had left, Carol and I were tucking into
bacon and black pudding rolls when we decided to check the ticket against the
results on her phone.
'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.
We must have checked it another ten times or more.'
Mrs Martin said: 'We just kept looking at each other and
going "No, it canna be".'
Her husband added: 'I remember Carol said to me,
"What have we done?" That's the enormity of it. (With) £50,000 we'd
have been doing cartwheels in the living room.
'I've dreamt of this moment many times but when it
actually came, it was a just total shock.
'We were both stunned into silence. We kept re-checking
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.'
The couple, who have been married for 28 years, are
planning to retire as soon as possible and said they would love a new home in
the country, local to where they live now, and a holiday home in the sun.
They admitted the massive sum would 'certainly change'
their lives as they were unveiled as the winners at a hotel on the outskirts of
Edinburgh.
The pair also hinted about helping some of those affected
by the floods which hit the UK recently.
Their 'tight-knit' hometown was among the places affected
by the flood damage when the River Teviot burst its banks.
The average wage in Hawick is about £15,000 per year and
if the Martins' lottery win were to be shared between the town's population
everyone would get around £2,200 each, according to a local resident.
Sam Cornwell tweeted that the Martins were the talk of
the town following their success.
Speaking more about how the couple intended to spend
their money, Mr Martin said: 'It’s everyone’s dream to win the lottery. I’ve
talked about winning and what I would do so many times. But now it’s actually
here my mind’s gone blank.
'We don’t have all the answers yet but we’d like to help
our closest friends and family, and there are charities which are important to
us too.
'Parts of our community have also been hit by flooding
and we know lots of people who have struggled in recent times, so there’s a lot
for us to work out but it’s a nice problem to have.
He is a keen golfer but has been unable to play for some
months due to a heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation.
Mrs Martin added: 'David has been suffering in recent
months from an irregular heart rate and has been taking medication to help
control it.
'He will need to have a small operation soon to help
steady the pulses and after that should be back out on the golf course before
too long.
One of the questions asked at the press conference was if
the Martins would invest any cash in Hawick Knitwear - where more than 120 jobs
are at risk after the firm went into administration last week.
Mr Martin said it was a 'difficult question', adding:
'The knitwear industry has not had an easy time, but it is not just the
knitwear sector. Lots of places are having a hard time at the moment.
A neighbour in Martins' street in Hawick told MailOnline:
‘They’re a really lovely couple. We’ve been neighbours now for about 16 years.
It couldn’t have happened to nicer people.
The man, who asked not to be named, added: ‘David will do
anything for you and Carol is well known for working in the local chemists. I’m
chuffed to bits for them.
‘I haven’t managed to speak to them about it yet but when
I saw it on the TV this morning I was really pleased. I know they’ll be really
looking forward to seeing their daughter, who they are flying home to see them.
‘It’s a lot of money. It’s going to be a big change for
them, but I’m sure they’ll be very happy.’
Hawick’s Honorary Provost Stuart Marshall told the
Selkirk Advertiser: 'You could not meet a nicer guy than David Martin.
'He used to come to Pringle’s Glebe Mill many years ago
to repair frames and was a first class mechanic and I really do think the whole
of Hawick will wish both him and Carol all the best for the future. Good luck
to them in whatever they decide to do.
The Martins' winning Lotto Jackpot ticket was bought from
Morrisons in Hawick and the winning numbers were 26, 27, 46, 47, 52 and 58.
The couple’s win has catapulted them to the top of the
Lotto rich li
st, but the prize was split between two tickets and the
other winners have not yet come forward.
Earlier, a Lotto statement said: 'A couple from the
Scottish Borders are celebrating today after winning one half of last weekend's
incredible £66 million Lotto jackpot.
'The husband-and-wife team are celebrating with a
life-changing cheque for £33,035,323. The couple plan to enjoy their winnings
and take early retirement.'
Saturday's massive jackpot - the biggest ever - was the
result of 14 rollovers.
No comments:
Post a Comment