A GRANDMA won over £1m on two National Lottery scratch cards from the same shop – now she’s planning a road trip to Las Vegas.
Sandy Doyle from Salisbury, Wiltshire, became a millionaire after buying not one, but two winning scratch cards at her local shop.
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She popped into the nearby One Stop early on a Sunday morning to buy a newspaper and treated herself to the Match A Million National Lottery Scratchcards. At home, the 58-year-old couldn’t believe her luck.
Sandy said: “I popped the kettle on for a cup of coffee and decided to scratch my Scratchcards. When I revealed the £1MIL sign on the first Match A Million, I didn’t believe it so I put it to one side, and played the other. I saw I had won £10 on that Scratchcard which I did believe.
“I then looked back at the other one, rubbed my eyes and signed the back just in-case. I’m an early riser so it was nerve-wracking waiting for the National Lottery phone lines to open at 9am. I called one of my daughters who didn’t believe me – to be fair, I’m not sure I did either.”
After checking her card with Camelot, who operates the National Lottery, Sandy immediately quit her job as a warehouse operative to plan some travel adventures. The grandma even wants to visit Sin City in Nevada.
Sandy said: “I’ll be helping out my two daughters and my grandkids too, I think the first treat for us all will be a trip to the beach for Easter holidays where we can have fun and take some time to plan the future.”
“I have a cousin in Atlanta, Georgia who I haven’t been able to visit in the last two years so a holiday over there, and a road trip to Las Vegas are definitely on the cards.”
She added: “I’m also a big rugby fan and have only been able to watch England at Twickenham once so there will certainly be more trips to watch them, as well as watching the Rugby World Cup in France next year.”
Yet it won’t all be fun and games, as Sandy is looking forward to spending more time with her relatives and won’t be splashing out on a dream home. She said: “I’m okay where I am currently, but in the future I’d like to buy a bungalow.”
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“I didn’t retire to swan about living the millionaire life. I help care for my father, and that was always a juggle with work, now thanks to this amazing win I will have more time to cherish precious moments with him.”
Sandy’s double winning scratch cards were a very rare victory, so players should always gamble responsibly. The Match A Million Scratchcard, which costs £5, offers a 1 in 3.45 overall chance of a prize but the odds of scooping the jackpot are a lot slimmer.
Her luck comes after another 58-year-old gran won £300,000 as part of a family syndicate. Caroline Walsh, who lost husband Mike to cancer in 2021, said she and her husband had often played the National Lottery together and dream about what they would buy if they won.
In France, one EuroMillions winner has even donated nearly all his prize money to charity. The lucky man, who has chosen to remain anonymous, won a £167million jackpot, the second-largest ever amount in the French draw, but has pumped it into “saving the world”.
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