Winners

How a hungry cat resulted in £1Million Scratchcard win for the Hancocks

Andrew Hancock had a hungry cat on his hands, having forgotten to get cat food on the way home from work. To make amends, Andrew popped out to grab Shortcake (the cat) some dinner at a local garage. While paying for fuel, he picked up a MONOPOLY Millionaire Scratchcard, having previously won £100 twice on the game.

While still on the garage forecourt, he started scratching the symbols on the card. Andrew said, “I looked and looked again and started to get a bit hot when I realised I had won. But I wasn’t 100% and I didn’t know what to do. Should I call The National Lottery to see if I had won the prize there and then, because I could be wrong, or go home to do it with Paula?”

So he went home and let the cat out of the bag to Paula. They checked the Scratchcard again together. The couple called The National Lottery to confirm their win. Paula said, “We just started screaming and jumping up and down in the kitchen whilst still on the phone to the lady at The National Lottery.”

But with all the excitement about their win, there was also a minor catastrophe. In his excitement, Andrew had completely forgotten to get Shortcake his dinner. The poor cat had to make do with a slice of ham from the fridge.

With relatives in Australia, the couple are planning a trip down under. Their 12-year-old son enjoys Judo competitions so they’re also thinking of booking a trip to see the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, in the home of the martial art.

The couple run a catering business, employing 10 people, which keeps them very busy so they’re hoping to relax a bit. Andrew said, “We work long hours and never switch off. Winning this amount of money will let us take it easier so we can enjoy not just the winnings but relax a bit more in life in general.”

The cat will also be getting rewarded; Andrew said, "I’m sure Shortcake is going to be treated. If it wasn’t for Shortcake, we wouldn’t be millionaires!”

13th August 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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