Wolves fan and wife scoop £1m in Euromillions jackpot draw
A Wolves fan and his wife were today unveiled as the nation's newest millionaires after they scooped a seven-figure Euromillions windfall.
Keen fisherman David Brown, aged 44, and his wife Dawn, a 41-year-old PA at Wolverhampton-based aerospace company Moog, reeled in £1 million in the Euromillions raffle draw.
The Penkridge couple today spoke about the moment they found out they had won and pledged not to give up work.
Mr Brown, who is originally from Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, and who has worked at Smethwick steel company The Hadley Group for the past 26 years, was having breakfast in the staff canteen when he checked the numbers on his phone.
He had started his shift at 6am and checked his numbers during a break.
"I noticed I had the two lucky stars at first but then realised I hadn't any of the other numbers," he said.
"I then looked at the millionaire raffle code and thought hang on, I've got the first three, no four, and I looked across all nine to realise I could be a winner."
He jumped up and down in the middle of the canteen and asked colleagues to check his phone because he was 'shaking like a leaf'.
He said: "In fact the next couple of hours are a blur."
Mr Brown did not immediately call his wife of 20 years because he wanted to make sure they had actually won.
He called Camelot to check and then phoned her to say he would be driving straight to her office after his shift finished. "I had to show her the winning ticket because she didn't believe me," he said. The couple, who have a four-year-old son, Jack, both intend to continue working, despite their windfall.
Stewart Towe, Hadley Group chairman and managing director, who is also chairman of the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "We're delighted for them both. I have been at our factory in Thailand so haven't been there to congratulate David myself personally yet, but I know he's fairly pleased about it all."
Mr Brown, an accomplished coarse fisherman who is part of Walsall-based team Maverick Midlands, plans to spend some of his new-found wealth on equipment.
In 2002 he was flown to Spain on a private jet to compete in the prestigious Embassy Pairs fishing competition and won the top prize of £2,500.
He added: "I have been in front of the cameras before when I won the fishing competition but announcing I have won the lottery is just like a dream. To be honest, life is still a bit of a blur but I know that winning this money is a dream come true. All the things you wish for are now possible for us, things like paying off the mortgage, getting a couple of cars, no longer worrying about bills and going abroad on holiday."
Mr Brown bought the lucky ticket from Asda, in Stafford. And if it had not been for their son the couple may not have won a penny. He said: "There was a very long queue at the kiosk so I thought I wouldn't bother doing the lottery. But Jack ran over and started scribbling on the lottery tickets. So I thought I may as well do it – we have a lot to thank him for."
