A lucky crowd of NHS workers have struck gold after winning more than £100,000 in the EuroMillions lottery.
The syndicate of 53 hospital staff have scooped a golden ticket which matched five main numbers and one lucky star in the recent draw.
Each member of the group will now take home £2,227.26 of winnings thanks to the one ticket, which was a bit of good fortune itself.
Usually, the syndicate only buys tickets for the national lottery draw but because the EuroMillions jackpot was so high recently they decided to have an extra flutter for fun.
The winning jackpot on October 8 was £174,236,090 but the health workers came up trumps by bagging the second prize which was £118,041.10.
Syndicate leader and pharmacy technician at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, Kim Owen, said: “We don’t always play EuroMillions but because the jackpot has been so high, we thought it was worth a try as the prizes would be big enough for us to share.
“I usually end up buying the tickets as and when but on the day of this draw, I decided I was going to wait and buy all the tickets at once. I felt like doing something a bit different might bring us a bit of luck – and I was right!
“I checked the numbers on Friday night straight after the draw and I just couldn’t believe it. I asked my husband to triple check the ticket and as soon as I was sure it was true, I tried to call a few people to share the good news. Because it was late, no-one picked up, so I put it on the WhatsApp group instead.
“People were so excited and there were others, like me, who just couldn’t sleep so my phone was going off with messages throughout the night!”
The syndicate is predominantly made up of staff in the pharmacy department at the hospital who are said to get on really well with each other and have given themselves the fitting nickname, “The Pharmily Crew,” according to Wales Online.
After a challenging 18 months working on the frontline during the pandemic, the EuroMillions win has helped lift all the syndicate members’ spirits, according to Kim.
Kim said: “It has been a scary time for all of us and for us to share this win after having all faced the same challenges, makes it extra special.
“I hope we’ll be able to do something together to celebrate but we’ll see, people come from all over to work in the hospital so it’s tricky to get everyone in the same place at the same time, especially at the moment.
“This is a lovely amount to win and hopefully it will come in handy for lots of people. After the last few years, I will definitely be putting the money towards a holiday.”
