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West Country couple tell how they got news of record-breaking EuroMillions win

• Sam Jones
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 February 2010

 

 

A smiling, slightly awkward, but inescapably normal West Country couple sat perched on a pair of golden thrones in the damp grounds of a Bath hotel this afternoon, clutching an enormous oblong of paper on which were inscribed 13 small but life-changing words.

Neither Nigel Page nor his partner, Justine Laycock, needed to look at the piece of paper they were holding up for the cameras. They both knew what it said: "Fifty-six million, eight thousand, one hundred and thirteen pounds and twenty pence."

Whatever shrieks and whoops the couple and their children may have emitted on Saturday morning when they discovered they had become the UK's biggest ever lottery winners had long since fallen silent and the only extraordinary thing about Page and Laycock as they emerged from anonymity to meet the press, sip ­reasonably priced bubbly and pose before the obligatory red Ferrari was how extraordinarily ordinary they seemed.

Saturday morning, Page explained, had begun as it usually did. He had gone down for breakfast leaving Laycock to doze on. Then, as he and his daughter were eating, the news came on and he learned that the £112m EuroMillions jackpot was to be shared between a ticket bought in Spain and one bought in the UK.

Already feeling moderately lucky as he had won £55 in Wednesday's Lotto draw, Page logged on to his computer to see if he had had any joy with the money he had reinvested in two lucky dips for the Euro­Millions lottery. He had. "It just popped up on the screen," he said. "Congratulations: you have won £56m – and 20p."

He then headed upstairs to rouse Laycock. "I normally leave her to sleep in on Saturdays, but I trundled upstairs and said: 'It's important. You need to check this.'"

Once Laycock had spoken to Camelot, the family stopped to absorb the news. "We just went into the front room and stood there laughing," she said. "It was an amazing feeling."

The family then headed out for a ­celebratory breakfast in the cafe of their local supermarket, only to find that they were too stunned and excited to enjoy it.

"We couldn't even swallow," said Laycock. "We all sat round with our bacon rolls, all of us in a state of shock."

The couple, both divorcees from Cirencester in Gloucestershire, have three children from previous relationships – Page's daughter Ella, 12, and Laycock's daughter Georgia, 15, and son Jacob, 11.

When the shock wore off, the ­family began making plans. The modest requests from the three children – just a tarantula and a pony so far – are mirrored by those of their parents.

Laycock, 41, has decided to give up working as an estate agent ("my boss, bless him, is devastated"), while Page , 43, reckons he "probably won't be going back" to his work in property maintenance.

What he would like, though, is something new to drive. "I'm a white van man and I haven't had a car to myself for 10 years," he said.

Laycock teased him about buying "a ­bigger white van", but he has set his sights a little higher. "I think I'll get myself a BMW X5 or a Range Rover just to start with to get the dog and the kids in."

His real dream, however, would be to set up an indoor skydiving centre where he could indulge his passion for freefall.

"I might buy myself a wind tunnel and play in that. There are only three [indoor centres] in the country and I plan to use some of the win to set up the first one in the south-west."

His partner's fantasies are rather more terrestrial: "It would be lovely to get a five or six-bedroom house with a pool and lots of space, but we really enjoy the area we live in now so we won't move far."

There were also, added Laycock, quite a few friends and family members who would share in their luck. "We've got a long list of all the people we can help and make their lives more comfortable," she said. "It's a fantastic opportunity."

But the relatives, the spiders and the skydiving may have to wait a while as Page makes up for missing Valentine's Day in all the excitement of the weekend.

"I was planning to go out and get some flowers and a card, but what with one thing and another, I didn't get round to it."

When household harmony has been restored, holidays booked and new transportation arranged, the UK's 980th richest person thinks he might also quite like to have another go at gambling. After all, he mused, "I've still got £53 in my lottery account that needs to be used up".

awkward: niezręczny, niezdarny, zakłopotany

bubbly: szampan, wino musujące

clutch: kurczowo ściskać

devastated: zmartwiony, niepocieszony

doze: drzemać

indulge: pozwalać sobie, folgować sobie

inescapably: nieuniknienie, w sposób konieczny

inscribed: zapisany

lucky dip: kosz, z którego losuje się nagrody

muse: zastanawiać się, dumać

oblong: prostokąt

perch: przysiąść, przycupnąć

pop up: wyskakiwać, pojawiać się

reckon: sądzić

restore: przywracać

shriek: wrzask, pisk

sip: sączyć

stunned: oszołomiony

terrestrial: ziemski, naziemny

trundle: iść powoli, przetaczać się

whoop: okrzyk

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