Furloughed bartender celebrates £100,000 scratchcard win after ‘tough year’

A furloughed bartender and his student nurse wife are celebrating a £100,000 scratchcard win after a “tough year”.

Jonny Wright said he “ran home like a schoolboy” with the successful National Lottery Win All Scratchcard, which he bought using the £3 change he received after purchasing chewing gum and fizzy drink from his local shop.

Mr Wright, who was furloughed from his job at the White Hart pub in QuornLeicestershire due to Covid-19 restrictions, said he planned to spend some money on a foreign holiday with his family once the lockdown had been lifted.

The 40-year-old and his wife Heather who is in the final year of her nursing studies, plan to treat themselves to a “staycation” first, before buying new carpets for the house – adding to the Mazda 6 car already purchased by Mr Wright.

Speaking about the winning moment, Mr Wright said: “I needed some fresh air so went for a walk to the local shop to get some chewing gum and a can of something fizzy.

“I had £3 in change so just bought a National Lottery scratchcard to use it all up.

“I’m not a regular National Lottery player but I just had the urge that day. I couldn’t even tell you why I chose the one I did.

“I started walking home and scratched it. My legs went to jelly.”

Mr Wright continued: “Even though it’s just a 15-minute walk home from the shop, I couldn’t wait to tell Heather so I phoned her and she obviously didn’t believe my story.

“My knees aren’t good, having played a lot of football when I was younger, but that didn’t bother me – I just ran home like a schoolboy.”

Mr and Mrs Wright, from Quorn, could not afford laptops for their children during the home-schooling period, and said some of their winnings will be now be saved for a rainy day.

Mr Wright said: “To know now we can look after our kids and all their needs just feels great.

“This year is going to be a better year, it’s already started well and the next thing to look forward to is Heather graduating in September and becoming a nurse, a career she has always dreamt of.”

Explaining what they did after verifying their win, Mr Wright added: “I was physically shaking.

“Mum and dad checked it for me, and again, and said it had to be a winner, so I just called the National Lottery there and then.

“I went back home to tell Heather and then popped back to the shop to just have someone else verify the scratchcard… again.

“I then bought a few bottles of Prosecco to party with – Heather and I then just sang and danced around the house for a few hours after that.”