EuroMillions winners scoop £1million jackpot – then have a baby the very next day

A COUPLE who scooped a £1million jackpot have revealed their double joy after welcoming a child the next day.

Andrew Symes and Natalie Metcalf put their celebrations on hold after winning the life-changing prize money - as their baby girl Poppy born after the windfall.

The couple, from Thornbury, Gloucestershire, couldn't believe it when the netted the National Lottery's UK Millionaire Maker prize on Friday February 1.

But they didn't realise they had won the cash until the next day Saturday, with 37-year-old Natalie going into labour on Sunday as they shopped for houses.

Dad Andy, 40, said: "As soon as Natalie went into labour, all thoughts of our win went completely out of our minds.

"We were totally focused on making sure that Natalie and the baby were OK and it wasn’t until the baby was born and we were home that we had a moment to think, ‘Wow! Has that really happened?’ and start making plans."

Mum Natalie, 37, said: "We just couldn’t believe it. We downloaded the National Lottery app and scanned the ticket to double-check and that said we’d won too.

"We just didn’t know what to do though, so Andy ended up going to Tesco where he’d bought the ticket and they told him to call Camelot."

They said they had even just sold an old pushchair before finding out the jaw-dropping news.

Natalie said: "It’s so funny to think of now, but the couple who’d bought our pushchair had paid in cash and I was dancing around the living room singing, ‘We’re rich, we’re rich!’, when Andy turned to me and said, very seriously, ‘Yes, yes, you are!’ and made me check the ticket."

A FAMILY HOME
The couple are now planning on splashing the cash on their dream wedding and a family home.

Natalie added: "We’d always joked that the only way we could ever afford to buy our own home was if we won the lottery. We didn’t know that that would prove to be true!"

And they said they were delighted they could now plan the wedding of their dreams without feeling guilty.

Andy said: "This win couldn’t have come at a better time. We have our beautiful children and now we can get married and buy a perfect house to raise them in.

"As well as feeling so happy about the safe arrival of our baby girl, we just feel so relaxed.

"We’ll be able to buy a home and not even have to worry about a mortgage. To not have to think about that additional cost every month is almost a second windfall in itself."

Their win followed builder Andrew Clark, 51, from Boston, Lincolnshire, discovering in November he had won £76 million, six weeks after the draw.

In July 2011, Colin and Chris Weir, from Ayrshire, became the biggest lottery winners in the UK, and across Europe, when they scooped more than £161 million.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012 while the biggest prize awarded in the country in 2018 was £121 million, handed to an anonymous winner in April.