After receiving a sizable lottery prize, a lucky man from Wiltshire, England quit his plastering job.
After winning £10,000 per month for the following 30 years, John Stembridge’s life was never be the same.
The 51-year-old won the cash on the National Lottery’s Set for Life in July and intends to use his newfound free time to go fishing, travel throughout Europe, and take photographs of endangered species.
Soon, he intends to make his first significant purchase: a luxurious camper van.
It all began when he made the decision to purchase a lottery ticket in the supermarket after spending the day photographing birds. John matched all of the winning numbers in the Set For Life game of the National Lottery’s draw on May 18: 10, 32, 36, 39, 43, and Life Ball 2.
However, the award went unclaimed until he realized he had forgotten to check his ticket a few weeks later.
This catch is off the scale 🎣
— The National Lottery (@TNLUK) August 9, 2023
Sending a huge 🎉 congrats 🎉 to John, a keen wildlife photographer with a passion for fishing, who’s won £10,000 every month for 30 years on Set For Life! #NationalLottery #SmashLife pic.twitter.com/8RmoycK4Kz
Speaking to the Mirror, John recalled the moment he popped in a shop and got the ticket checked. “When the store assistant put it into the machine to check, the machine made a really strange noise – something I had never heard before.”, John said.
The store assistant then informed him that it was a winning ticket but she couldn’t pay him.
At first he thought he had maybe won £100, but then he received a call from National Lottery confirming he I had won the top prize.
“I literally burst into tears and I cried my eyes out. I could not believe it! My life was about to change forever – and this really was happening to me!” He exclaimed
The dad-of-four said: “It’s time to give up the trowels! There will be no more days of coming home covered in plaster dust and worrying about money and my family.”
“All of our lives are now changed forever. It makes me so happy that I can now help and support my family and those closest to me and I literally have no more worries in that respect”.
He added “To be in the position where I get £10K every month, tax free, is just phenomenal – this National Lottery win has changed everything for me and those closest to me and I still just cannot believe it!”
Every week, the National Lottery helps raise £30 million for charitable charities in the UK. This helps support the expansion of women’s and girls’ football across the four countries, in addition to funding hundreds of minor projects in local communities.
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