A LOTTO winning couple was “dumbfounded” after hitting a million-pound jackpot from a trashed ticket.
Richard and Dione Buss bought a weekly ticket worth a whopping £1.9million while on a holiday back in 2013.
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The couple decided to get the lotto ticket while they were travelling with their parents, and daughter Harriet while on holiday in St Ives, Cornwall, at the end of September.
But soon after buying, Richard, then 48, binned the ticket after it drew a blank.
While the husband had no expectations of wining a dime from that draw, Dione picked it up from trash after she had a “niggling feeling”.
And to their surprise, the ticket perfectly matched the Saturday draw numbers.
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But the delighted couple were unable to confirm their win for 12 hours because the Camelot office was closed – and Dione kept her mind busy by ironing through the night.
When they were finally able to officially confirm their winning amount, of £1,888,630, the pair said they were “dumbfounded”.
Dione explained: “We buy a weekly ticket for the two draws, on a Wednesday and a Saturday.
“Richard had already put the ticket on the recycling pile after the first draw, forgetting we still had Saturday to go.
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“I dread to think what had happened if it had just been recycled, we very nearly lost all that money.
“Thankfully I had a niggling feeling and checked the ticket and saw that it still had that final draw on it that we hadn’t checked.
“When we realised we’d won and the amount we’d won it was absolutely unbelievable.”
“My daughter thought we were joking, as did my dad.
“Everyone is just so pleased for us, they keep telling us to sort ourselves out as a family now before we start using it for other people.”
The couple revealed the big plans they had – along with their daughter – with the huge sum of money.
After suffering from MS herself, Diona said she wants to fundraise for for a hospital unit at Frenchay Hospital, Bristol.
She added: “We want to do some fundraising with the money really.
“I have always wanted to do it and now I have the perfect excuse to, it will be great to give back to people who have given us so much.”
And after doing some noble work, the couple wants to spend the fortune on living their dream lives.
The modest pair now plan to travel the world, visiting places they have never been, including climbing the Great Wall of China, as well as fundraise.
Dione, a property developer, added that the pair also plan to buy a classic car, as well as a plot of land to build a house on.
She added: “We’ve also been given a list from Harriet, who wants a Fiat 500 and a horse. I think that’s manageable. And I want to build up my collection of guitars.
“It’s funny, we used to laugh and say ‘we need to win the lottery’ to benefit all our friends and family – and now we’ve done it we have to come good on it.
“We can’t wait!”
The lucky couple, who have bought a ticket every week since the lottery began 19 years ago, made a small change from their usual numbers in 2012 after they scooped £1,238 matching five numbers.
They had only used their winning combination, 10, 12, 14, 25, 46, and 48 – made up of birthdays, ages and house numbers – for a year before the huge windfall.
It comes after a man who scooped a £105million lotto jackpot revealed he wishes he had never won and wants a normal life again.
Builder Steve Thomson landed the massive EuroMillions prize back in 2019.
Meanwhile, a woman who spent £3 on the lottery while enjoying a drink at the pub scooped a £300k jackpot, but only received a quarter of it.
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And an army veteran won a life-changing Postcode Lottery before his wife decided how to spend every penny.
One woman told how winning £1.8million at just 16 ended up needing Universal Credit to live off.
