Lotto Winner to Pay Back Community Who Helped Daughter
Last Updated: Wednesday 27th April 2016, 08:55
A woman from Cambridgeshire who scooped the Lotto jackpot last week has paid tribute to the local community who have helped her disabled daughter and vowed to pay them back for their kindness. Lorraine Daniels and her father Derek bought one of the three winning tickets for the draw on Wednesday 20th April, matching all six main numbers to grab a share of the £2.1 million top prize.
Lorraine and Derek came forward to receive their cheque on Tuesday and explained during an emotional press conference just how the £729,026 windfall will change their lives. Lorraine’s daughter Lotus needed an operation to have part of her brain removed after suffering increasingly severe epileptic fits as a baby. She is learning to walk again and can communicate through sign language, leading Lorraine to comment that while “the Lotto win is amazing, Lotus is our miracle.”
Lorraine has received considerable support from local people, who recently helped her to buy a specialist bed for Lotus. “I couldn’t afford the specialist bed, so the community was amazing and raised enough money for us to order it,” Lorraine told reporters, as quoted by The Mirror. “Who would have thought that before the bed had even arrived, I would have won the lottery. Now I can pay back the community, so the money can go to another worthy cause.”
The Lotto numbers Lorraine and Derek used were all inspired by seven-year-old Lotus, including her birthday, christening date, baby weight and the room where she was born. Lorraine said: “No child understands money but she knows something’s happened because she went to school giggling today.”
Derek also admitted that news of the big win was still slowly sinking in, saying: “We kept thinking about all the things that were now possible and how all our heartache and worry for Lotus’ future was over. Making that call was wonderful but even after it had been confirmed we were still in absolute shock, going through every magical how, what, why and when to spend.”
If you feel inspired by Lorraine and Derek’s heartwarming tale and believe you could put a big Lotto win to good use, there is a jackpot of £6.1 million on offer in tonight’s draw. You can buy tickets by playing online or visiting an authorised retailer, and you might just be given the chance to splash some much-needed cash on whatever means most to you in the world. Good luck!