Car Crash Survivor To Donate To Air Ambulance After EuroMillions Win
Last Updated: Tuesday 23rd July 2019, 09:37
A man from Kent who almost died in a car crash a couple of years ago has revealed that all he could do was giggle when he found out that he had won a big EuroMillions prize. He now wants to use the money to help the Air Ambulance service which saved his life.
Steve Cole, a father of seven from Tunbridge Wells, matched all five main numbers and one of the Lucky Stars on Friday 12th July, just missing out on the jackpot but pocketing an impressive £286,532. He quickly claimed his winnings and revealed how it was just the stroke of luck he needed after surviving a horrendous ordeal which had almost ended his life.
Steve suffered life-threatening injuries after a head-on smash with an out-of-control driver on Bayham Road. He was told he would have had just six minutes to live had it not been for the paramedics who rescued him and airlifted him to Kings College Hospital in London.
“I was coming round the corner and it was like one, two, bang. II remember being put in the helicopter and then I woke up and it was Christmas,” recalled Steve, who spent six weeks in an induced coma after the accident.
Recalling how he felt when he received an email from the National Lottery telling him he was a winner, Steve admitted that he found it hard to stay composed when he saw how much it was, as he was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions.
He said: “Logging into my account, I was expecting to see a couple of pounds, instead there was a magnificent £286,532 staring back at me. I could pretend I coolly took it all in my stride but in fact I couldn't do anything and simply sat there giggling. To be honest, following the last two years my children and I have lived through, a moment of giggling seems only reasonable.”
Lucky Winner's Plans For The Future
Steve, 65, has promised to donate some of his winnings to the Kent, Sussex and Surrey Air Ambulance in recognition of what they did for him, while he is also looking forward to a family holiday to Barbados and wants to buy some rare stamps for his collection.
He will also invest in a hedge fund and hopes to get back into golf, having only recently started walking again following his accident. “A full round is still some way off but once I'm ready membership to a decent golf club is beckoning.”
While Steve just missed out on the jackpot, a Spanish player did scoop the £96 million top prize in last Friday’s draw, making them one of the biggest winners of the year so far.
You can play for the EuroMillions jackpot every Tuesday and Friday evening, knowing that there are 12 other ways to win prizes even if you don’t match all the numbers. If you play online like Steve from Kent, you will also be notified if you win any prizes so there is no chance of missing out.