|
Welsh ex-miners John Ackerman and John Stinchcombe
have a lot more in common than their first names.
They have been friends for four decades, and
also worked together at the Celynen pits in
Crumlin before taking their well-earned retirement.
And now they have become the second biggest
Lotto winners in Wales after hitting a Double
Rollover jackpot worth a staggering £11,544,846
on Wednesday 26 July.
The two friends have been playing the lottery
regularly ever since it began in 1994. They
usually play three lines of numbers every Saturday,
but Wednesday games aren't normally something
they are interested in, as John Ackerman explains:
"We don't usually play on a Wednesday,
but Pearl [his wife] nagged me to get a ticket
because she'd heard on the radio that it was
a big Rollover - I'm glad she did now!"
Despite buying the ticket for the Wednesday
game, it wasn't until Thursday that John discovered
that they had won a prize - and even then he
didn't realise just how much they had won. "After
checking the numbers on Teletext on Thursday
morning, I initially thought we'd won £50,
so I went to Woolworths on Blackwood High Street
- where I bought the ticket - to claim the money
there. They told me that the prize was too big
for them to distribute.
"It was only then that I realised we'd
won the jackpot. I really just didn't believe
it. I rang John straight away and he didn't
believe me either!"
John Stinchcombe says: "I've led a very
happy life without much money and have never
really dreamed of winning the lottery. It's
just unbelievable we have won."
The two friends were actually next door neighbours
until John Stinchcombe and his wife Julie moved
to a new home nearby ten days before the jackpot
win. But John Ackerman and his wife Pearl currently
have no intention of moving away from their
terraced home, and Pearl is adamant that she
will continue working as a domestic assistant
in a local nursing home.
"This is the house we worked for years
to pay for," Pearl said. "I'm not
going to leave it now. We've worked very hard
to get it just how we want it and we're very
happy here. I also love my job, and have already
been back since the win - everyone there is
really pleased for us and all the residents
have been giving me their congratulations"
15 August 2006
Back to news summary
• News archive |
