Life changing

Missing winner found: Boston builder banks £76Million

A builder from Boston has treated himself to an early retirement after finally discovering he was the missing massive EuroMillions jackpot winner. He realised he had won £76,369,806.80 six weeks after the draw – but at least he was just in time for Christmas!

The lucky man, Andrew Clark, 51, has a habit of stockpiling lottery tickets in his van, so had worked through some bitterly cold and wet winter days despite having a ticket worth £76Million snuggly tucked in the visor of his works van.

Please check your tickets!

Andrew was urged to check his tickets by his partner, Trisha Fairhurst, 51, a catering assistant in a local hospital, as well as her niece Louise, but Andrew admitted he was enjoying the wind up for weeks!

“Trisha kept telling me to check the tickets, and her niece Louise, who I was building an extension for, was also in on it once she’d heard about the unclaimed prize in the news. It was something of a standing joke that I had all these tickets while there was a local prize outstanding, so for weeks they were on at me to check.”

The £76Million discovery

Finally, Andrew said he ‘gave in’ and checked his stash of tickets one night when he was staying with niece Louise.

“It was about 8pm and we were watching telly when Louise reminded me again about the tickets. I finally gave in, got the bundle out of the van and started to work my way through them, methodically from the oldest to the most recent, starting with Lotto, before moving onto my EuroMillions tickets. You might say I was slightly winding up Louise but I certainly didn’t expect the wind up to end with me saying ‘I’ve done it, I’ve won £76Million’ – I won’t say what she said in response!”

With Andrew 70 miles away from home, Trisha explained she got the dream-come-true call from him to tell her that they’d won the massive EuroMillions jackpot.

“I’d just got back from work and was settling in for a quiet evening when Andrew called and said ‘you know that £76Million, well I’ve just won it.’ Obviously, I didn’t believe a word of it, even when my niece came on the phone to say it was true I still couldn’t take it in. It started to seem real when he called back and said, ‘honestly, it’s real, so start looking for a mansion’ – bang went my quiet evening, I didn’t sleep a wink!”

A lifetime of magical moments

Andrew and Trisha have already found, and bought, a new home and a couple of new cars - a Mercedes C63 AMG and a Nissan Qashqai to grace the driveway - but they’re most excited about sharing the win with their family.

“It’s been great choosing a new home and cars but without question, the best bit about the win is how we can help all our family. We can quite simply change their lives, whether that’s paying off mortgages or supporting them in their future endeavours, it’s been amazing to put a smile on everyone’s face, and the fact it’s at Christmas makes it that little bit more magical.

“This Christmas is going to be a quiet affair, but next year will be a different story. Trisha and I have this vision of hiring a big lodge or hotel so that the whole family can get together and swap stories about how they’ve spent their share over the past 12 months. This win isn’t just about Christmas magic, it’s about creating a lifetime of magical moments for all those around us.”

One lucky family

Finally coming to terms with the fact he needn’t have worked those few cold weeks, Andrew laughed and admitted he’s just happy it all ended well.

“It almost feels like some magical Christmas story; the man who nearly lost £76Million! For all our family, I’m very pleased that Trisha and Louise nagged me to check those tickets!”

21st December 2018

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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