EuroMillions win puts Karleen on road to becoming a foster mum
A couple from Worcestershire who won £100,000 on EuroMillions, will use the prize to convert their garage into extra bedrooms so they can foster children.
Karleen Reece, 41 and her husband Mark, 42, said they will treat their 3 children first before beginning their fostering journey. Karleen, a teaching assistant, said, “I’ve always wanted to foster children. Mark and I discussed it many years ago and then we had our own. My 3 kids will be leaving home soon and I have too much love to give. I've always wanted to foster but never had the right circumstances.”
The couple, who live in Stourport, admit they haven’t always seen eye-to-eye about their regular purchase of a EuroMillions ticket. Karleen said, “Every Friday Mark comes home from work with a EuroMillions ticket, and I always moan at him. We’ve won a few pounds over the years, but I’ve never seen myself as a lucky person.
“On the Friday of the win, Mark didn’t give me the tickets as usual because he was out that night and kept them in his wallet. We were out on the Saturday night too, so it was only on Sunday morning that I checked the tickets. Mark popped out for some milk and asked me to check the ticket. I scanned the first one and nothing. Then I scanned the second and it asked me to claim.
“I showed it to my daughter who is a maths teacher and was easily able to check the amount and check the numbers online. We called out the winning numbers to each other and the amount from the website. As the realisation of what this meant hit us we sat there in disbelief; we were winners.”
Karleen was on the phone to The National Lottery confirming the win when Mark came home with the milk. She said, “His jaw dropped. He looked at me in disbelief so I put the phone on speaker and the lady confirmed she was from The National Lottery, and we’d won £100,770.14.”
Mark, who works as a site officer at a recycling vehicles depot, put the winning ticket in his passport for safekeeping.
The amazing win has come at the perfect time for the family. At the start of the school summer holidays, Karleen’s sister had to abandon her wedding on the Island of Rhodes due to the fires. After 2 years of planning, the family only spent a single day on the Mediterranean island before flying home.
Karleen said, “I will help my sister start planning her special day and the win will help that journey.”
31st August 2023
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