A woman believes her late husband is looking down on her and smiling after she won the People’s Postcode Lottery twice — with tickets he bought shortly before his death.
Lesley and Garry McNally decided to downsize when their children left their home in Salford, Greater Manchester but just eight months later Garry died of a heart attack, five days after his 60th birthday. The family were devastated by their loss — but the loving husband and father left them behind a lasting gift, having subscribed to the People’s Postcode Lottery. Since then, the lottery has come up trumps for them twice.
After deciding to keep on playing the Postcode Lottery following her husband’s death, Lesley, 54, discovered that Garry’s Postcode Lottery tickets had scooped a £2,000 prize for his family. And the turn of fortune didn’t stop there. a few months later, the same ticket scooped a £166,666 prize. The mother-of-three was overjoyed when the People’s Postcode Lottery told her that the postcode had landed her a share of a whopping million-pound sum as part of the first ever Millionaire Street prize in Swinton.
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“I’m happy that I’ve won, and the family have won,” she said. “But it is tinged with sadness, because we had played for a long time and Garry’s not here to see it.”
Car dealership administrator Lesley first met Garry when she was 16 and they were married for 37 years before he died of a heart attack, reports the Manchester Evening News. Their three sons, Alan, Matthew and Steven are helping her arrange the work required to helping Lesley renovate the bungalow that Garry had started to plan.
Lesley said: “We played Postcode Lottery in the old house and continued to play when we moved here. We had a bigger house. Then the boys all left and we downsized. This is where we would have lived forever. But eight months later Gaz had a sudden heart attack, five days after his 60th birthday.
“If he was here, he would have started building. After we moved in, he had the roof off in a day. Now I’ll just enjoy it and do what we wanted to do.”
She added: “It’s just lovely that other people in the street won, too. People struggle at the moment, so I didn’t want to be ‘I won’ when other people were struggling. But because other people are sharing in the win, I don’t feel so guilty.”
Lesley was one of nine people with the Swinton postcode to share £1 million in the Millionaire Street prize – with each ticket worth £83,333. Lesley had two tickets, but next door neighbour Chris Leonard landed the biggest prize — £249,999 — with his three tickets.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson visited the winners to present them with their prize. He said: “It was an amazing day in Swinton as we launched our mega £1 million weekly prize. I loved surprising the winners and hearing how they plan on treating themselves and their families.”
People’s Postcode Lottery tickets are usually bought online, most popularly via subscription. You can also buy tickets by phoning 0808 109 8765, where people are guided through the signing up process. You cannot buy tickets for an individual draw — the minimum subscription is for a month and costs £12. Each payment enters tickets into all the draws for a month in advance.
She added: “I feel sick, I’m just overwhelmed… I really don’t know how to feel. This solves a lot of things. Garry passed away very suddenly and there wasn’t a plan. This just makes the plan. There are just so many emotions that went through my head. It’s unbelievable and will change the family’s lives. It will all be shared. It’ll help me and the boys.”
Incredibly, it’s the second time the family has won a cash prize since Garry’s untimely death. His son Alan believes his dad is looking down on them all. “I’m not a spiritual person,” he said, “but when we were paying for dad’s headstone, mum got the £2,000 win – and now this.”
Brother Steven added: “This is amazing, it’s massive for my mum. It has been difficult times.”
Lesley found out about her win when she was on her way to work and spotted the Postcode Lottery team in her street. She said: “I thought it was the Labour Party canvassing for votes because of the red clothing. I was on my way to work but I phoned my boss to say that I was going to be late.”
