A former school lollipop lady landed her family a £300,000 lottery windfall after buying a scratchcard on the way to a doctor's appointment. Mum of two Caroline Walsh uncovered her jackpot on the Super 7s scratchcard as she sat waiting for her appointment.
Caroline, 58, of Pontypool, lost her husband Mike to cancer last year, and will share the win with her children. She said: "Thank goodness the doctor didn’t take my blood pressure in the appointment, it would have been through the roof! I wouldn’t have been able to tell her what was causing it because I wanted my sons to be the first to know.
“I spoke to my sons as soon as I got out of the surgery and they couldn’t believe it! We’re all in shock. They are both grown up and have children of their own so, the money will make such a difference to all of us.”
Read more - Life after winning the lottery: The winners who won the jackpot
The scratchcard was bought in Griffithstown as a family syndicate. Caroline's eldest son Chris, who's 40, now works as a ward manager at a hospital in the north of England. He hopes to put the money towards a family holiday for his partner and two children following a tough two years working through the pandemic.
He said: "I couldn’t believe it when my mum called, I was absolutely ecstatic. £100,000 is an amazing amount of money and I can’t wait to put it towards a family holiday and plenty of treats for my partner and our children.”
The win follows a difficult time for the Walsh family after they lost their beloved father, Mike, to cancer in February 2021. Caroline said, “Mike and I always used to play the National Lottery together and talk about what we’d do if we won. He would have loved all of this. He always said he wanted us to move to Spain if we won but for now, I think he’ll be happy knowing that I’m going to be taken care of.”
The shock of losing her husband of 34 years actually triggered a lupus attack for Caroline who ended up spending six weeks in hospital and while she was there, her bungalow flooded, leading to months of further disruption.
Caroline, who worked as a school lollipop lady for 21 years before being forced to retire early due to ill health, said, “Last year was awful but things are definitely improving. The first thing I’m going to do is transform my garden. I want to make it into a space that’s easy to manage and somewhere I can enjoy when the sun shines.
“I’ve already bought some little treats for my grandchildren and I’m going to put some money aside for all of them. My husband and I have had a caravan for years in Brean Sands in Somerset. We had such a lovely community of friends there and I’m looking forward to going back to celebrate in a place where I have such happy memories." Like this story? Get all of our latest news from your area straight to your inbox for free with our newsletters.
