Thunderball Hits Wales

Lottery luck hit South Wales for the fifth time in a month on 5 May, 2007, when Michael Neilson won the Thunderball game and found himself £250,000 richer.

Michael, who is 50 and has a fiancée named Erica, is a power line worker. He was working outside of his home country (specifically in Rainham, Essex) when good fortune ran into him. He had purchased a Thunderball ticket, using Lucky Dip selections, from a Tesco Extra, but he didn't find out about the win until the early hours of Sunday morning - and that was thanks to an already sleepless night.

"I couldn't sleep, so I got up to lie on the couch," Michael explained. "Erica thought there was something wrong, so she got up to come and see what I was doing. We decided to check the Thunderball numbers on Teletext. When I saw that I'd won the Thunderball prize, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. My mind was whirring."

Whilst many winners would choose to take their lottery winnings and escape as far from normal, Michael has very different plans. As a member of the Non Political Club in Pontygwaith, he intends to take seven of his friends for a holiday in Benidorm. Michael also plans to treat Erica to "whatever she wants".

"We already had the holiday to Benidorm booked for September," Michael said. "Now I've won this money, I've decided to treat everyone. We are all really looking forward to it."

He may have £250,000 more than he had this time last month, but Michael won't be letting his windfall go to his head.

"Money isn't that important to me, it's family and friends that count," he said. "I'm going to spend some of the winnings, but put the majority away. It will be a nice feeling to have that much money in my account."