“Good, i’nt it?” said Kath Long, when asked on Wednesday how it felt to be married to the luckiest man in Britain. The retired landlady from Scunthorpe still looked in shock, five days after her lorry driver husband, David, beat odds of over 283bn to one to scoop a second £1m prize on the EuroMillions lottery within two years.
David almost missed his first win, back in July 2013, when he misread his numbers and thought he had only won £2.70. He chucked the ticket in the bin, only fishing it out on a whim when he decided to go to the shop to buy a paper. “By the time I’d got to the shop I realised it was worth a heck of a lot more,” said the 59-year-old on Wednesday, after reluctantly going public with his second win. Last Friday he played again and won another million, plus a luxury car.
He insisted he didn’t feel guilty about doing the double. “Not at all,” he said. “There’s no guilty feeling at all. I always believed I would do it again.” He didn’t play every week, he said, but always knew he would strike it lucky twice. “I always had a feeling it was going to be me. I tend to play when I know there are a lot of prizes on the go.”
After his first win, David learned money cannot buy you everything. He was able to pack in his job driving trucks but has suffered with persistent health problems. He couldn’t get his hands on a Liverpool season ticket either. He will will try again to secure a regular seat at Anfield, he said, and would stump up cash for the honeymoon he and Kath never had. They got married last year on the first winnings after a 12-year engagement, but couldn’t agree on a honeymoon destination because David doesn’t like flying: “I’ve tried it twice and I don’t like it. Kath would love me to book a Mediterranean cruise and I think I have run out of excuses.”
Asked whether riches brought happiness, David paused. “It’s got do, a’nt it?” he said in broad North Lincolnshire. He had at least been able to buy his mum, Joan, a mobile home, where she moved from her council bungalow. She was in his local pub on Wednesday for the great reveal, dressed in her Sunday best, along with friends and family who were getting stuck into the cider on David’s tab. Retired nurse Joan, 81, said she had been badgering her son to buy her a ticket but he wouldn’t. “I play every single week and the most I’ve ever won is three numbers - £25.”
