David and Carol Martin, a husband and wife from Hawick, have been named as winners of £33million, half of the UK's biggest-ever Lotto jackpot |
A couple
from the Scottish Borders have revealed they found out they had
won Britain's biggest ever Lotto jackpot while tucking into a bacon and
black and pudding roll.
David
and Carol Martin, a husband and wife from Hawick, have been named as
winners of £33million, half of the historic £66million jackpot.
Mr
Martin said the couple, both 54, were 'shocked' and described the
experience as 'surreal' when they found out. They celebrated their
windfall with lots of cups of tea, he added, before revealing the first
thing he wanted to do was 'buy myself a nice pair of £200 brogues'.
The
Martins' winning ticket, which was bought from Morrisons, sat on their
mantelpiece overnight Saturday and the couple did not check it until the
following morning when prompted by friends.
They said at
a press conference this morning that one 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 revealed that the couple's daughter was the first person they 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.
'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.
The couple have revealed that they realised they had won half of the historic £66million lottery jackpot while tucking into a bacon and black pudding roll |
'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.
Mr Martin,
who has a heart condition, 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.
Mr
Martin, 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.
Mr Martin said the couple's daughter was the first person they contacted when they found out about the win |
Splashing out: They said at a press conference this morning (pictured) that one of their first purchases will be a first-class ticket home for their 26-year-old daughter Lisa, who is working in Australia |
He added: '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.
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.
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