Lottery winner sells car to best friend for £1 after scooping £1m prize

A hospital worker has sold her car to her friend for £1 after finding out she had won £1 million on the lottery.

Deborah Burgess, 56, said it feels “wonderful” to be able to help her best friend Louise Smith after scooping the life-changing prize in the Lotto draw on August 19 last year.

The medical records administrator, from Wigston in Leicestershire, did not realise she had won anything for months after falling ill with chronic anaemia and having to spend time in hospital herself for treatment.

Deborah Burgess had no idea for months she had become a millionaire after falling ill and not checking her emails (National Lottery/PA)

Due to her illness and then a holiday to recuperate, Ms Burgess did not check her emails for a while – but when she finally read the message from the National Lottery, she initially thought it may be a scam, until it was confirmed and her winnings were paid out.

After finding out she had become a millionaire in October last year, Ms Burgess shared the news with her son Nathan, 21, and his girlfriend – and plans to use some of her winnings to help them after Nathan graduates from university.

As well as planning a trip to swim with dolphins in Hawaii with her family, Ms Burgess is also spending the money on converting a bedroom into a bathroom for her mother Patricia and having new garden fencing fitted after the recent gales tore them down.

Her winning numbers – 2, 7, 17, 28, 31, 37 and the Bonus Ball 8 – were chosen via a combination of birthdays, birth years and a random number (National Lottery/PA)

Ms Burgess has also bought a new car, having sold her old one, a Peugeot 2008, to Ms Smith.

She said: “I’ve bought a new car. It’s not brand new, but a nice Hyundai.

“I wasn’t going to sell my car but my friend wanted to buy it from me. She wanted to pay the proper price but because of the win I sold it to her for just a pound.

“It feels wonderful to be able to do such a thing.”

Of her win, Ms Burgess said: “The last few months have been a blur – illness, then going back to work, holidays, Christmas, New Year – I just couldn’t find the time to celebrate and I was very conscious of monitoring my health.

“But finally getting hold of that big cheque and spraying champagne like a Formula 1 driver has been well worth the wait.”