Lucky For Some
Last Updated: Wednesday 7th August 2013, 15:20
A syndicate of thirteen taxi owners and drivers have won a major Lotto prize for the second time in five years. In February 2002 the syndicate matched five numbers and the bonus ball to win £144,222. Five years later, in February 2007, they went one better by matching all six main Lotto numbers to scoop a £546,480 share of the jackpot.
Alan Russell is the leader of the syndicate, and although he was the first member to discover the win, this discovery wasn't made until he was about to buy tickets for the draw scheduled to take a place a week later. When he did realise that Lotto lightning had struck twice, he was understandably surprised.
"Usually, my wife checks the ticket after the Saturday draw but she was ill with a cold last weekend," Alan said. "When I went to the shop to buy the next week's ticket and check the numbers from the Saturday I was in for a shock. The shopkeeper told me that I had won big and my mouth just dropped - I could not believe it!"
"To win on Lotto twice in five years is unbelievable," Alan admitted. "We are all over the moon - the money will make a huge difference to all of our lives. It won't be long before we all use our passports! A lot of the syndicate are going to go on holiday - some are planning once-in-a-lifetime trips to faraway places such as Australia."
But not Alan. He is planning to take a trip to Italy so that he and his wife can visit Rome, Pompeii and Capri for their 30th wedding anniversary. He also has an eye on a Toyota Avensis that he wants to buy. And maybe he will be treating his daughter, who seems to have a gift for predicting the future...
"Funnily enough, the day before I discovered we had won, my daughter, who is a bank manageress in Worthing, told me that she had dreamt that someone she knew was going to have a big win on the lottery," Alan explained. "She was amazed when true when I told her that my syndicate had won over half a million pounds and her dream had come true!"
Given the number of members in the syndicate, this win seems to offer convincing proof that the number 13 really can be lucky for some!
