An animal lover who won £2m on the National Lottery will used the first bit of her winnings at the vet's to settle a bill racked up for her rescue parrot.
Lesley Herbert, 42 and from Basingstoke, had just realised she was the lucky winner of The National Lottery’s Monopoly Riches Scratchcard when one of her parrots had an accident.
She took her to the vet as the poor animal, called Bibi, had a dislocated foot. But she was then slapped with a £200 bill.
Describing it as a "crazy moment", she said she showed her vet her winning scratchcard as she asked if she could please settle the bill once the £2m landed in her bank account.
“The vet team were brilliant but were very shocked when I showed them a picture of the scratchcard as an IOU.
"They laughed that they’d never before been shown a £2m winning Scratchcard as a guarantee the bill would be paid!”
Self-confessed animal lover and mum-of-four, Lesley, is looking forward to being able to get on the property ladder and house her two rescue dogs Nicko and Luna, as well as African Grey parrots Bibi and Alfie.
Lesley also plans to finally get much-wanted chickens in the near future.
As well as purchasing a new home, helping out family and good causes close to her heart are also on her ‘to do’ list.
Lesley said: “I am still trying to get my head around the win but I have already been looking for what kind of house I could buy - a farm with a bit of land would be amazing, so I can rescue more animals in need.
"In the longer term I would love to look at starting my own animal shelter charity.
“This win will also mean so much to my four children. I’ll be able to set them up for life, which is something I never dreamt I would ever be able to say, let alone do.”
She continued: “Charity and giving back to those in need is something that is really close to my heart.
"I currently help an organisation by picking up close to out-of-date food from supermarkets and I distribute it to those who are in need.”
Explaining the circumstances around how she came to buy her winning Scratchcard, Lesley said she had popped ot the shops to buy some spinach , "of all things" , but decided against it and got a chocolate orange bar instead.
"For some reason I was also feeling quite lucky, so treated myself to a Monopoly Riches National Lottery Scratchcard.”
Lesley is convinced that someone was watching over her at that exact moment.
“When I went to the shop, I even said to the shop assistant ‘I’m feeling lucky today’.
"My grandad died in December and he always used to say to me ‘when I win the lottery, I’ll buy you the big house on top of the hill,’ so I can’t help feeling he was with me that day, telling me to buy the ticket - I just wish he was here to see it.”
Dream holidays are also high on the bucket list, with a trip to the Bahamas to visit Pig Beach to swim with the pigs being a must for Lesley, as soon as it is safe to do so.
Lesley bought her winning Monopoly Riches National Lottery Scratchcard at The Co-operative in Limes Park, Basingstoke.
The Monopoly Riches Scratchcard from The National Lottery offers a 1 in 3.38 overall chance of winning a prize. The scratchcard costs £5 and prizes range from £5 up to the top prize of £2m.
