A lorry driver quit his job within minutes of finding out he and his wife had won £166,666 each on the People’s Postcode Lottery, with the couple saying “it feels like a dream”.
Tony Hedley, 68, pulled his truck onto a hard shoulder to take a video call from his wife Christine, 65, on Thursday, who revealed they had won a combined sum of more than £333,000 after purchasing a ticket each in the draw.
Mr Hedley, a grandfather-of-four, wasted no time in phoning his employer from his lorry cab to tell him he wouldn’t be coming in the following day or returning at all, taking retirement and a much-needed rest after driving heavy goods lorries for 42 years.
The couple from Newcastle upon Tyne are hoping to use the money to revamp their bathroom and garden, as well as going on a family getaway to Pitlochry, Scotland, in August.
“It was just surreal, it was like the weight had lifted off my shoulders,” Mr Hedley told the PA news agency.
“When I finished the call with the Postcode Lottery, I phoned up work and said ‘when I come back, I’m not coming in tomorrow and this is my last shift’.
“I got back to the base, I dropped the trailer off and my manager said, ‘you lucky sod’, shook my hand and wished me all the best.”
Mr Hedley added: “I’ve been working all my life and I think it’s time I had a break.
“When they revealed the envelope, it was just surreal.”
While Mr Hedley was working at the time their win was revealed, Mrs Hedley was at home to open the envelope herself.
“When I pulled the ticket out, I couldn’t believe it, I just cried,” the teaching assistant told PA.
“I never thought it would be that big.
“It’s still unbelievable, I wake up in the morning and think ‘did I dream that?'”
As well as making some home improvements, the couple want to use the money to help out their two children and four grandchildren, along with a great-grandchild on the way.
“We’re not the type to go out on spending sprees and we don’t ask for much out of life,” Mrs Hedley said.
“I think the first thing is to make sure the kids are alright and get somebody in to do the gardens and bathroom and renovate the house a bit.
“And then we’ll think about it after that and just take things slowly.
“It’s lovely to know that we can just relax and live life for us now.”
“These kinds of things don’t happen to people like us,” Mr Hedley said, with his wife adding: “Well, they do now.”