Life changing

Watch parents reveal secret £1Million win to their sons

When dinner lady Paula Williamson, 59, and husband, Geoff, 68, found out they’d won £1Million on EuroMillions, naturally they wanted to share the life-changing news with their two sons in person. The only problem was that one son, Jack, was on holiday in Australia – and he wasn’t due back home for over a month.

So the couple from Barnsley decided to wait until Jack’s return before telling both of them – despite the fact their other son, Ian, was living in the family home. “It was tough being in the same house as Ian and keeping it from him, but we did it,” Paula said. “We just tried to keep ourselves as occupied as possible.”

Their sons’ reaction when they were finally told the amount was one of utter shock. With cameras flashing as a huge cheque was revealed by Paula, they were lost for words and just wanted a hug from their millionaire mum.

Watch what happened when they were finally told

On top of waiting five weeks to reveal the happy news, Paula had also been oblivious to the fact that she had a £1Million winning ticket sitting in her purse for an extra week. “I always buy a EuroMillions ticket when I do my weekly shop and at the same time check my ticket from the previous week,” Paula said. “When I got to the till to check my ticket the machine made a noise and the shop assistant said I’d won more than £500 so she couldn’t pay out. I was really excited and thought I’d probably won around £550.”

When Paula rang Camelot and was told what she’d actually won, it didn’t seem real. “The lady on the phone asked me, ‘Are you sitting down? You have won £1Million!’ I cannot believe I was walking around for a whole week with my winning ticket in my purse, desperately saving for a new sofa,” Paula said.

A dinner lady of 20 years, Paula has no plans to retire though. Top of her shopping list is a house each for her sons, who both still live at home, while that new sofa comes in second. Meanwhile, Geoff, a retired long distance lorry driver, says an updated Skoda is top of his list.

The couple, who have five grandchildren between the ages of two and 13, both agree that treating their family is very important to them. Paula said, “We are not going to rush into anything. We are just going to take time to think. This win takes away any money worries and gives us so many options and opportunities.”

The Williamsons scooped their £1Million UK Millionaire Maker prize from the special EuroMillions draw on 1st March 2019, when 40 millionaires were made in one night.

9th April 2019

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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