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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
Lynn Love

Grieving daughter to collect dad's Postcode Lottery winnings after his sudden death

The daughter of one of the winners of the £7.9m Postcode Lottery Jackpot is to collect his winnings after he tragically died before learning of his win.

Andrew Gillon passed away during surgery at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth Hospital on January 7.

The 59-year-old was undergoing surgery after falling down the stairs and breaking his neck at a friend's house on New Year's Day when he died unexpectedly.

Andrew's daughter Lisa Thomas, 32, said the family has been left devastated by his sudden death and is still struggling to come to terms with what happened.

Andrew Gillon tragically passed away during surgery for a broken neck (Daily Record)

Lisa, from Hamilton, said she was shocked to find out Scottish Water employee Andrew had been sent one of the golden envelopes along with the rest of the players on his former street Shaw Crescent, Wishaw.

Despite no longer playing, Andrew is still counted as one of the winners of Scotland's biggest single Postcode Lottery Jackpot and Lisa has been chosen to collect his prize in his honour, reports the Daily Record.

The mum-of-three said she feels like she's been given one last gift from her dad.

She said: "I found out dad had won via his friend and neighbour.

"I thought there was no way he could have as I had blocked his bank account, so I presumed no payments would have been taken.

Andrew with daughter Lisa at her wedding (Daily Record)

"My dad's played postcode lottery for as many years as I can remember.

"When I got it confirmed, I felt absolutely devastated at first.

"I could just hear the excited phone call from him telling me he had won and I know his first thought would be to book us all a holiday.

"Now I still feel sad that he's not here to enjoy this with us, but I also feel some excitement for him and I'm sure he has had something to do with this.

"There's been so many 'signs' since he left us and I'm certain he is watching saying 'I told you so'.

Lisa, who is mum to Connor, Farrah and Aspen, said she remembers laughing with her dad last Christmas because the first card he received for the holidays was from the Postcode Lottery.

She added: "I was laughing at him for his first Christmas card being from them.

"All I remember him saying is, 'well you won't be laughing when I win!' and he was right I wasn't laughing, I was crying."

The Postcode Lottery announced earlier this week that hundreds of players within the ML20 postcode had been told they had won a share of the £7.9m jackpot. All winners will receive a minimum of £1000.

Lisa will find out today exactly how much her dad's postcode has won at an exclusive event in Glasgow.

She said: "I feel emotional thinking about it.

"Even if it's the minimum £1k my dad would have been over the moon.

It's hard to say I'm excited as my biggest emotion about it is sadness that he's not here to enjoy the excitement of the day with us, but we will be there thinking of him and thanking him."

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