Matt’s feeling rosy after £500,000 win on ‘The Pink One’
When Matthew ‘Matt’ Harding realised he’d won £500,000 on a National Lottery Scratchcard his first thought was to put it in his sock for safe-keeping.
Matt, a shop assistant from Nottingham, admits he was in a state of total disbelief when he realised he’d scratched off the amazing top prize on ‘The Pink One’ Scratchcard. He said, “I grabbed a random person off the street to confirm it was real and I wasn’t seeing things. They said ‘yes, it is £500Thousand, congratulations!’ Holding the Scratchcard as tight as I could, I ran straight back to work. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!”
Matt showed the Scratchcard to his boss who told him to sign the back and call The National Lottery. Putting the lucky Scratchcard in his sock for safe-keeping, Matt “hot-stepped” it home to break the news to his long term partner John Drabble.
When Matt arrived home looking white as a sheet, John admits he was concerned. He said, “I thought [Matt] was having a heart attack. He was pale, clammy and shaking – he looked like he was going to pass out. He couldn’t speak at first, then he said he needed to get something out of his sock. That’s when he took the Scratchcard out. We both just kept looking at each other, gasping ‘NO!’ in total disbelief.”
After calling The National Lottery to confirm the win, Matt and John celebrated with champagne. Matt said, “I did not sleep a wink, not because of the champagne but because of the win. I was still in such shock.”
With the money now in the bank, the couple have started to think about the future.
Matt said, “We aren’t sure what we want to do with the money yet. We have just had a holiday to Cyprus which has helped us try and process it all, let it sink in and think about what we want to do with it.
“The most I have spent is £98 on a mobile printer for photos but that is about it. We want to pay off the mortgage and secure our future. We also want to get married. In the future we might look to buy a property abroad but I am not sure where yet. We did a bit of window shopping in Cyprus but didn’t come back with any keys.”
John said, “Matt has always been very generous, he is always doing lovely little things for people – Christmas is his favourite time of the year. He’s always been kind, lottery win or not.”
7th July 2023
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