A woman was turned away from her local shop when she tried to cash in her National Lottery ticket - only to later learn she'd won a huge sum of money. Angela Hathorn, 63, and her husband Steve, 68 are both retired.
The couple matched all five main numbers in the Set For Life draw on Monday, January 23. And they are both still in shock after winning £120,000.
Angela explained how she was initially worried there was a problem with her ticket when she asked for it to be checked at her local shop. She said: “Every Sunday I buy my Set For Life tickets for the coming week and normally get both checked at the end of the week in the shop, I never check the numbers online.
“Unusually, I went into the Co-op on the Tuesday and asked the lady to check the numbers for the Monday night draw. She had a puzzled look on her face as she stared at The National Lottery terminal and then she asked her colleague to take a look.
“I was starting to get nervous, worried there was a problem and not helped by a large queue behind me, before the shop assistant said they couldn’t pay out over £100, and I should go call the National Lottery line to claim my prize.
“I didn’t even ask how much, I just went back to my car to drive home.” Angela was parked a few hundred yards from the Co-op and admits her knees buckled a few times en-route back to her car.
She said: “I got home, and as usual Steve opened the door for me and immediately asked me what the matter was as I obviously didn’t look my normal self. I told him the story and so we sat down to call the number on the back of the Set For Life ticket.
“The man at the National Lottery told me that it sounded like I had won and that someone would be contacting me asap to confirm the win, and then I couldn’t stop saying, ‘oh my god, oh my god!’. Steve was by this time as white as a sheet! I did try to have some lunch but could only manage half a sandwich.”
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Angela, who lives in Kent with her husband, continued, “I then carefully put my winning Set For Life ticket in my old National Lottery plastic wallet, which is held together with Sellotape and kept it in my handbag for safe keeping.” Angela and her husband Steve called their two sons, James and Lee, to tell them their amazing news.
Angela said, “I called James first as I knew he would be at home. I then called Lee when he got back from his work. They didn’t believe me! I wasn't 100% sure myself and so we all just talked about various things with the conversation always eventually going back to the win.
“I didn’t sleep for days, nervous it was still a dream and it was just amazing when everything was confirmed.” The couple want to spend the money on experiences.
Angela said, “I’m not really into material things, but this fabulous win will help Steve and I enjoy life to the full. As we are both retired we have the time so I want to go on a cruise, having watched lots of television programmes on this type of holiday.
"I love going into London so I can see more visits for activities like afternoon tea on the horizon. And we love to visit historical and heritage sites. We did this a lot before Covid, and the win will kick start more trips for us.”
The retired couple have been married for 41 years and also plan to tend to their garden more. Angela said, “I love my garden, it’s an oasis...it’s a very special place for me so I think I’ll treat myself to some more plants.”
