Lotto joy for avalanche man's family

Ben Bailey12 April 2012

A man who survived an avalanche in which four of his friends died was celebrating a change in fortunes today after his family won almost £8 million on the Lottery.

Stephen Newton, 34, was taking part in a mountain survival training course in December 1998 near Ben Nevis in Scotland when the avalanche struck.

Stephen and the two other survivors spent 15 hours trapped under 3ft of snow before being rescued.

But today his family were celebrating winning a £7,985,672 Lottery jackpot, which will be split equally between him, his parents Ted, 69, and Marilyn, 65, and siblings Darren, 39, and Sarah, 36.

The family, who have pledged £3,000 to mountain rescue services, won the jackpot on a Lucky Dip ticket.

Normally they buy their syndicate tickets for the Saturday draw but Ted, from Dartford, Kent, decided to give the mid-week draw a go after noticing it was a Lotto Rollover last Wednesday.

Retired foreman Ted, who toasted their good fortune today at the Hilton Dartford Bridge Hotel, said: "I was going to the shops because we wanted some bread to eat.

"There's a little bakery there and I was also passing a Costcutter. I saw somewhere it was a rollover so I bought five Lucky Dip tickets. I didn't think about it after that, I put them in my pocket and forgot about it.

"On Thursday morning, I was sitting down, Marilyn was in the kitchen preparing something. I thought I should check those numbers. When I checked them, I saw we had got all the numbers but not the last one, the bonus. I thought we'd probably won a few bob."

Marilyn added: "I said 'We don't need the bonus.' I didn't really think it was true, I thought there has to be some catch. I couldn't believe that we had won that amount of money."

Stephen, a builder, who has two children, George, three, and Rosie, nine months, said: "We had forgotten he had been doing it."

It took the couple half an hour to phone Camelot. They then invited their three children, who are all married, over during a "cryptic phone call" so the company's adviser could break the good news to them that evening.

The family celebrated their win with a Chinese takeaway which they said they had to scrape together the cash for.

It remained partially uneaten as the shock of their big win and an end to the usual mortgage and money worries began to sink in.

Ted, who was made redundant from his last post, said: "It's been hard at times, looking after the family and bringing up three children. When we got our mortgage I was the only one working."

He said he and his wife did not plan to move from their Dartford home but might purchase a holiday cottage. He also hoped to book a trip to see the Northern Lights.

The couple, who are keen caravanners said they might also splash out on a new caravan which they could design themselves or a new Range Rover car to pull it.

Marilyn added: "I've always dreamed of going into a shop and saying 'I'd like to have that', without having to look at the price tag. On Sunday I went into a boutique and bought this outfit.

"It is absolutely fantastic that we have not got to worry about the children or grandchildren. They are secure and that is the main thing for us, they are our life."

Speaking of her father's dedication to the lottery, Sarah, a legal secretary, who has one daughter Abigail who is three-and-a-half, said: "All credit to dad for carrying on with it."

Darren, a warehouse worker, said he went to work as usual following the news, but hopes to swap his Golf car for a BMW or an Audi and purchase some Wembley tickets.

He said: "I like the people I work with. I may change my car and my house, but I won't change my job."

The family's winning numbers were 10, 16, 21, 22, 35, and 49. The bonus ball was 31.

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