Life changing

Last minute decision leads to EuroMillions win

Ever thought about buying a ticket but figured it’s the end of a long day and don’t bother? Well Liz Anderson remembered the special EuroMillions Mega Week draw and grabbed a ticket just before she left work for the day and is now celebrating with £1.2Million in the bank. Liz Anderson, 45, and her partner Frank Coles, 51, from Sevenoaks have plans to pay off the mortgage, renovate the house and change career thanks to the win.

Liz received an email at work the day after the draw with news about her ticket but assuming it would be £2.70 win didn’t check it until later in the day. "I work in the city on a trading floor as a desk support and the day is usually quite busy, so it wasn’t until late morning that I decided to take a break and logged into my National Lottery account. The balance hadn’t changed so I thought there must be a mistake despite the socking great big banner at the top of the screen flashing ‘Congratulations you’ve won £1million and a holiday’, at the time I thought it was just an ad so ignored it!"

Surreal

Bemused by the message but no change in her account balance Liz went back to the email and scrolled down, expecting to see a £2.70 win but instead saw the flashing banner again. This time she took notice realising life was about to get much easier for all her family. Demonstrating immense self-control, Liz decided that an open plan office of more than 200 people was not the place to announce she was a millionaire, without first checking it was real; so she simply closed the message and went back to work.

“It was totally surreal but I didn’t tell anyone, I didn’t even message Frank! I think I was worried it might not be true so just carried on working. At lunchtime I popped out and wandered about the city in a daze. At some point in my wandering I decided I ought to celebrate, so I went into Superdrug and bought myself a £5 lipstick! With lipstick in hand I went back to the office and called Camelot who verified the win.”

It wasn’t until later in the day that Liz told her husband Frank the good news when he arrived at her work, with their daughter, ready to go and watch Arsenal play in the Champions League.

“We are big Arsenal fans so had already arranged to meet at work and then head to the match. I met them both in reception and Frank was chatting about his day when I said, ‘I’ve got something to tell you too’ and then explained what had happened. He was utterly speechless and then we couldn’t stop smiling as we headed off to the match, where Arsenal won 2:0, the perfect end to an amazing day!”

Bright future

The couple chose the cash alternative to the Mega Week millionaire experience, giving them the grand total of £1,248,880. With the money now safely in the bank Liz and Frank are making plans for the future. While Frank, an avid golfer is hoping to find himself on the course a little more often and possibly at the Ryder Cup 2018, Liz is enjoying the freedom the win will give her to explore other vocations or projects.

“This win really does open up a whole new world for us. While we already have a lovely home and have no plans to move, we will at last be able to pay off the mortgage and do all the renovations we want to. While we’d have got there in the end, it’s nice to not have to think about where the money will come from or feel worried about job security.

“I’ve enjoyed my work in the City and have in the past toyed with moving into teaching but again have stayed with my job for financial reasons, now I can really start to think about other career options that might be open to me and will mean I’m at home more for our daughter.”

In addition to a possible new career for Liz, Frank’s two adult children and one grandchild will also benefit from the win and the family are already busy planning their holiday to visit Frank’s son in Australia. “We have a wonderful family and already feel blessed, this win is just the icing on the cake and I can’t wait for us all to enjoy our secure future together.”

The National Lottery has been changing the lives of winners and supporting good causes across the UK since 1994. In that time, there have been more than 7,000 new millionaires created and by playing The National Lottery you raise over £4 million for Good Causes every dayΔ.

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