Shop assistant kept £500,000 lottery scratchcard in his sock for safe-keeping
A shop assistant felt like he was about to have a ‘heart attack’ after winning £500,000 on a National Lottery scratchcard.
Matthew Harding, from Nottingham, bought the £500,000 Pink Multiplier National Lottery Scratchcard from the shop he works in.
He recalled the moment of being in total disbelief upon discovering he had won the life-changing sum.
He said: ‘I treat myself to a scratchcard or two every month after payday and scratch them on my way home.
‘I have seen a few customers in the shop winning £20 or £40 here and there so I thought I would give this particular one a go.
‘I have always been told to buy two in a row as you are more likely to win. There may be no real logic in that but that’s exactly what I do – I always buy them in a set.
‘I had only got to the curb of the shop when I scratched off a ‘five’ and thought, ‘ah, it’s a fiver’. Then I scratched a ‘zero’ and then another ‘zero’ and then, to my astonishment, a ‘K’ at the end. I was in total disbelief.
‘I grabbed a random person off the street to confirm it was real and I wasn’t seeing things. They said ‘yes, it is £500K, congratulations!’.
‘Holding the scratchcard as tight as I could, I ran straight back to work. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!
‘I was shaking when I got back to the shop. I showed my boss the winning scratchcard and he told me to sign the back and call The National Lottery.
‘So I signed it there and then, and shoved it in my sock, being sure not to crease it, and hot stepped it home!’.
Matt’s partner John, said he was white as a sheet when he walked in the door with the unexpected news.
John said: ‘I thought he was having a heart attack. He was pale, clammy and shaking – he looked like he was going to pass out. He couldn’t speak at first, then he said he needed to get something out of his sock.
‘That’s when he took the scratchcard out. We both just kept looking at each other, gasping ‘NO!’ in total disbelief.’
Matt and John immediately started to celebrate once they called the National Lottery to confirm the win.
Matt said: ‘We drank three bottles of champagne! I did not sleep a wink, not because of the champagne but because of the win. I was still in such shock.’
The couple have now started to look towards the future now the money is in the bank.
‘We aren’t sure what we want to do with the money yet. We have just had a holiday to Cyprus which has helped us try and process it all, let it sink in and think about what we want to do with it,’ Matt said.
‘The most I have spent is £98 on a mobile printer for photos but that is about it.
‘We want to pay off the mortgage and secure our future. We also want to get married.
‘In the future we might look to buy a property abroad but I am not sure where yet. We did a bit of window shopping in Cyprus but didn’t come back with any keys.’
John said: ‘Matt has always been very generous, he is always doing lovely little things for people – Christmas is his favourite time of the year. He’s always been kind, lottery win or not.’
Matt added: ‘It feels really good to be able to offer help where it is needed, and without feeling the pinch thanks to our win.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.