When Joe from Cheshire got a call from The Health Lottery team to tell him he was our biggest ever jackpot winner, scooping an incredible £475,000, he initially thought it was a hoax.
Despite playing a Quick Pick line twice a week online for two years, Joe, 49, didn’t ever check his numbers, thinking to himself, “If I win, I’d get a call”.
But even when that call came, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing!
“My family had been at my nephew’s wedding the night before and we were just leaving our hotel room when my phone rang,” Joe told us when he came down to London.
“I got off the phone and went straight to my Mum’s room and told her to sit down before I broke the news. She went completely white!”
However, it wasn’t until Joe was presented with a cheque and a bottle of bubbly at The Health Lottery headquarters that the good news finally sank in.
“I had a horrible feeling that I'd told all of my family, and then I’d have to go back and tell them I'd got it all wrong!” he said.
Joe scooped the prize just seven weeks after we launched the Saturday night £475,000 Megadraw, and plans to spend the money on a holiday with his partner of ten years, and get an extension.
However, the insurance underwriter won’t be giving up work just yet, promising to be “sensible” with his winnings.
“It’s such a huge amount of money and 20 years ago I would have spent it all, but I’m older and wiser now so I want to make it last,” he said.
"It means we can now have a comfortable life - and maybe I will get to retire a little bit earlier!”
Joe decided to play The Health Lottery after seeing us advertised in his local newsagents. He looked into the work we do to help thousands of charities around the country who address health inequalities up and down Great Britain.
“I was surprised that over 20 per cent of each ticket sale goes to good causes, and I thought, 'This can only be a good thing.'”
“I felt l was doing my bit by playing. Since I’ve won, I’ve read up more on the work The Health Lottery does and it’s just incredible.”
Supporting health charities means so much to Joe, who sadly lost his dad earlier this year.
He said: “My dad had always been a fit and healthy man, so losing him so suddenly was such a massive shock to us all. He was loved so much by everyone, and his passing has left a huge hole in all our hearts."
Joe added: “In a way I think this win is a gift from my Dad, I really do believe that. I like to think he wanted to make things easier for us as a family, especially for my Mum, after a hard few months.”
Joe is so thrilled with his win, he has encouraged all of his co-workers to play - and he has vowed to keep playing himself.
“Oh yes, I will keep playing,” he said.
“Seeing where the money goes is a good enough reason. I think everyone should be playing!”
