A barman who had been furloughed for most of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic has been left “shaking” after he scooped an incredible £100,000 on The National Lottery’s Win All Scratchcard.
In any normal year Jonny Wright would be a bartender at the White Hart pub in Quorn, but for most of the past 12 months he has been stuck at home, looking after his two kids while his wife Heather has been studying hard to become an NHS nurse.
Jonny, 40, described the magical moment: “I needed some fresh air so went for a walk to the local shop to get some chewing gum and a can of something fizzy.
"I had £3 in change so just bought a National Lottery Scratchcard to use it all up. I’m not a regular National Lottery player but I just had the urge that day. I couldn’t even tell you why I chose the one I did."
“I started walking home and scratched it," he continued.
"My legs went to jelly. Even though it’s just a 15 minute walk home from the shop, I couldn’t wait to tell Heather so I phoned her and she obviously didn’t believe my story.
"My knees aren’t good, having played a lot of football when I was younger, but that didn’t bother me – I just ran home like a schoolboy!”
When Jonny got home, he immediately showed Heather the Scratchcard before calling his parents.
They're part of his support bubble, so he was able to pop over to their house to get them to double-check it, with the plan to call the National Lottery hotline from their home and claim his life-changing prize.
Jonny said, “I was physically shaking. Mum and Dad checked it for me, and again, and said it had to be a winner, so I just called The National Lottery there and then.
“I went back home to tell Heather and then popped back to the shop to just have someone else verify the Scratchcard…again! I then bought a few bottles of Prosecco to party with – Heather and I then just sang and danced around the house for a few hours after that.”
Jonny’s stroke of good fortune couldn’t have come at a better time. Apart from a short spell back at the pub in late Summer and early Autumn, he’s been furloughed and, like all NHS staff, Heather has found working and studying on the front line, during a pandemic, a huge emotional and physical challenge.
Jonny said, “Add in periods of home-schooling – we have an eight year old daughter and ten year old son – and 2020 hasn’t been kind. However, this is a great gift as we hopefully start to come out of lockdown.
“I’m really looking forward to going back to work and our children will be back with their friends at school very soon – things are definitely looking up. To win now, after what has happened, just feels great, especially for the kids.
Jonny and Heather’s two children haven’t been abroad so a foreign holiday is a long-term goal but, in the meantime the pair will be treated to a ‘staycation’ when restrictions allow.
Other plans include spending some of the cash on their house, new carpets being top of the list. Jonny has also already bought a new Mazda 6 car.
The rest of the money will be saved for a rainy day. Jonny said, “We had to borrow laptops from our children’s school during the home-schooling period because we couldn’t afford a new one each. To know now we can look after our kids and all their needs just feels great.
“This year is going to be a better year, it’s already started well and the next thing to look forward to is Heather graduating in September and becoming a nurse, a career she has always dreamt of.”
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