New Year Millionaires
Last Updated: Thursday 22nd November 2018, 14:55
A couple from Hemel Hempstead saw in the New Year as millionaires thanks to them winning a share of the £3,042,924 Lotto jackpot on Wednesday 31 December, 2008. There were three winning tickets in total, so Mark and Trina Myatt scooped £1,014,308, bringing them instant millionaire status.
Like millions of other people on 31 December, Mark and Trina were celebrating New Year’s Eve with their family when Trina asked if anyone knew what the winning Lotto numbers were. Trina’s brother-in-law could remember a handful of the numbers and Trina realised that she had matched some of them, so they went online to check the lottery results.
“Once we’d checked the numbers, I knew we definitely had four, possibly five which meant we had won £1,200 – I thought that was really nice because it meant we could go on a family holiday to Euro Disney,” Trina said. “I did wonder whether we might have matched a sixth number but really wasn’t sure so I drove back home to double check. When I saw we had all six numbers I was just gobsmacked!”
After realising that she had won more than £1 million, Trina was keen to get back to her family so that she could share the good news in person. But she wanted to do it in style, so she stopped off for a couple of bottles of champagne from a supermarket on the way.
“When I got to the checkout the shop assistant queried whether I realised how much the champagne was, as it was £25 per bottle,” Trina said. “I was so excited and leant forward to tell her that I thought I had just won a million pounds and that she was the first person I had told! I got back to my brother’s house and the celebrations began as soon as Camelot had confirmed we had the winning ticket!”
Although Trina’s husband Mark was of course delighted with the jackpot win, it also put him in a slightly tricky situation. “I had always promised my eldest son that I would buy him a toy shop of his own if we ever won the lottery,” he explained. “I did have to do a bit of back-tracking this weekend although he has still done very well… You can’t move for toys in our house at the moment!”