It was a great start to the new year for one Northern Ireland road worker when he scratched his way to £4 million!
The 35-year-old instant millionaire, Ross Hearst, had a bit of luck with some small wins on scratch cards and he went back to his local Spar to purchase a £10 national lottery Blue scratch. He was in the right place at the right time to spend a tenner and become £4 million richer.
When reporters spoke to Hearst, he said, "It's really unbelievable. I would normally buy a scratch card every week, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream of winning such a huge amount.
"In fact, I had just won a tenner on a scratch card and when I was in the store, I decided to exchange it for a GBP 4 Million Blue scratch card. I don't normally buy the GBP 10 scratch cards, but this one was the last one on the shelf so I just had an urge to buy it.
"It was lunchtime and when I went back to work, I scratched the card and just couldn't believe it when I won. I was so excited that when I tried to ring Camelot to verify the win, I kept pressing the wrong buttons on my phone."
He and his wife, Jocelyn, are expecting a baby, who is sure to have a bright future. When Hearst discovered the win, he rang Jocelyn, who didn’t answer. Finally, 22 missed calls later, she answered and hung up on her husband thinking he was joking but £4 million was anything but a joke.
"We're expecting our first baby in April so this win has just come at such a perfect time," Hearst said. "Our baby, and our life as a family, will have such a perfect start. Words can't describe it. It's just amazing.
"Obviously, we'll make sure that our baby has everything she needs, but we won't be making any rash decisions as to how we spend our money.
"I'll take a career break from work - who knows, I may want to go back some day - and I plan to invest it wisely but haven't really had time to think about how just yet.
"I'm not a great flyer so I think we'll book ourselves a nice cruise holiday and I'll definitely buy myself a new car.
"Jocelyn says she's going to buy a new hoover so I think that shows how sensible we'll be with our money.”
By Glo Wood
The 35-year-old instant millionaire, Ross Hearst, had a bit of luck with some small wins on scratch cards and he went back to his local Spar to purchase a £10 national lottery Blue scratch. He was in the right place at the right time to spend a tenner and become £4 million richer.
When reporters spoke to Hearst, he said, "It's really unbelievable. I would normally buy a scratch card every week, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream of winning such a huge amount.
"In fact, I had just won a tenner on a scratch card and when I was in the store, I decided to exchange it for a GBP 4 Million Blue scratch card. I don't normally buy the GBP 10 scratch cards, but this one was the last one on the shelf so I just had an urge to buy it.
"It was lunchtime and when I went back to work, I scratched the card and just couldn't believe it when I won. I was so excited that when I tried to ring Camelot to verify the win, I kept pressing the wrong buttons on my phone."
He and his wife, Jocelyn, are expecting a baby, who is sure to have a bright future. When Hearst discovered the win, he rang Jocelyn, who didn’t answer. Finally, 22 missed calls later, she answered and hung up on her husband thinking he was joking but £4 million was anything but a joke.
"We're expecting our first baby in April so this win has just come at such a perfect time," Hearst said. "Our baby, and our life as a family, will have such a perfect start. Words can't describe it. It's just amazing.
"Obviously, we'll make sure that our baby has everything she needs, but we won't be making any rash decisions as to how we spend our money.
"I'll take a career break from work - who knows, I may want to go back some day - and I plan to invest it wisely but haven't really had time to think about how just yet.
"I'm not a great flyer so I think we'll book ourselves a nice cruise holiday and I'll definitely buy myself a new car.
"Jocelyn says she's going to buy a new hoover so I think that shows how sensible we'll be with our money.”
