Neil Chester, a 31 year old father of four, has won a life changing amount of £8.5 million on lottery.
The news was all the more sweet as Neil had decided to take voluntary redundancy from his Computer Engineer job only a fortnight earlier.
His job was in The Channel Islands away from his family who were living in Kent and the reason he gave for quitting was so he could spend more time with his wife and kids.
Mr Chester had a flutter on 5 lines in a lucky dip - much to the scorn of his wife who told him he had no chance.
She said, “They never win.”
Amazingly he scooped the jackpot by doing 5 lines instead of the usual 3.
Speaking yesterday he said, “I never usually do more than 3 lines but for some reason I did – and it was the fourth line that won.”
Neil had been struggling to look after his family whilst searching hard for a new role after his redundancy and, since his win, has now actually been offered a new job.
He said, “Funnily enough, I have now been offered a job I went for. But I had to tell them I couldn’t take it because I had won the lottery. It must have sounded like the most made-up excuse ever.”
Believable or not it is the truth and he can now forget about the stresses of work and look forward to spending time with his family.
Neil has many things to spend his winnings on. His first priority is to buy a new house. His wife Kate and their four children had been living in her father’s house in Margate while Neil lived in The Channel Islands because of work. With £8.5 million now in the bank the family will be reunited in a new luxury home.
Also on Neil’s shopping list is a trip to EuroDisney for the kids and the Manchester United fan plans to buy season tickets for the family as well.
Neil who once had a trial for the club explained, “I’ve been a big Man United fan since I was a boy and their old goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is my hero.”
It wasn’t until last Friday that Neil found out that he had scooped the jackpot from the previous Saturday. He went into a newsagent’s near his father in law’s home in Margate for a pint of milk and decided to check his numbers as well.
He said, “I asked the man behind the counter if he could check my tickets. He printed off the numbers and said I needed to make a claim.”
“It said I’d got the jackpot and I thought I’d won £850,000. It wasn’t until I had another look that I realised I had actually won £8.5 million. I nearly passed out and ran home to tell Kate.”
“I just thought he was joking. I just couldn’t believe it and I still can’t”, said Kate.
This story is proof that there are deserving people that win jackpots.
