A couple were blown away when they scooped the £1 million EuroMillions Millionaire Matchmaker raffle prize and revealed exactly how they realised they had won. Ian Steele, of Heywood, Greater Manchester, and his wife Nick said that they were in disbelief when they discovered that they won, and they were still unsure about whether or not it was real until someone turned up at their door to pay them and hand them a bottle of champagne.
Ian’s wife Nick was diagnosed with MS 18 years ago and he says that the £1 million prize “means everything”. However, they were hesitant to believe that they had in fact won at all. When Ian called Nick, she thought it might have been some sort of “cruel joke” while Nick was “shaking like a leaf” when he realised that the money was real and they had in fact scooped the prize. Ian initially checked the National Lottery app, which confirmed he had no matching numbers, but he noticed something on his lunch break.
He had received an email to say that he had won a prize. He then rechecked the app.
He revealed: “I thought no, I haven’t, I’ve already checked. I logged into the app and still only had £1.50 in my account, but then it sunk in. In the draw results the raffle number was lit up in blue with a tick next to it.”
It turns out that he won by matching the raffle code on the EuroMillions Millionaire Maker. This is a unique code on each ticket, which is entered into a raffle with the top prize being the £1 million that this couple managed to scoop.
Because of Nick’s diagnosis when she was pregnant with their daughter Chloe, the couple has not been able to enjoy many things that others might take for granted.
Ian revealed: “Nick had to medically retire from her role as a specialist dental nurse, supporting and caring for extremely sick people at Manchester Hospital. While it was absolutely the right thing to do, it made things that little bit more difficult. We’ve had to be careful with money and not splurge.”
He added: “I’m the dreamer in the house and always said that if we won big, we’d treat ourselves.”
The father then revealed that the first thing his daughter asked for was a trip to Disneyland. He said: “We’re big Star Wars fans and it’s something we’ve always talked and dreamed about – and now that dream will come true.”
Ian plans to continue his job as a school chef manager but he says that this £1 million prize will take a financial weight off the family’s shoulders.