A COUPLE who lost their son to Covid are celebrating a DOUBLE lottery win in just two weeks – scooping over £30,000.
Susan Slater, 74, and her husband say the surprise cash will help fund a “big memorial” for Steve, “to celebrate him properly” in Essex.
The Canvey Island couple celebrated their first win of £1,000 along with four of their neighbours with People’s Postcode Lottery on July 15, reports Essex Live.
Then, to their amazement, they struck gold a fortnight later, when SS8 0EA scooped the lottery yet again.
But the second win saw the neighbours collect £30,000 per ticket.
A stunned Susan admitted she couldn’t believe her double win at first – and assumed someone was trying to trick her.
She said: “When I got the phone call for this, I’d told quite a few people that I’d won £1,000 and I thought ‘this is a wind-up, someone is winding me up!’
“Nowhere in my imagination did I think I was going to be lucky enough to win £30,000.”
When she was shown her prize – presented in a massive gold envelope – an emotional Susan yelled in surprise and clapped before exclaiming “that’s amazing.
“Thank you so, so much… that is going to make a lot of difference.”
The tearful granny confirmed the £30,000 prize came after “a nice little win”.
Susan and her husband said they knew exactly what to spend the cash on: a lasting memorial for their son, a dad-of-two who sadly died from Covid earlier this year.
Like many other mourners, they never felt as if he’d been farewelled properly as the UK was in lockdown, and there were restrictions for funeral services at the time.
Now, though, they can have a “big memorial” for Steve in August.
Susan said they want to “celebrate him properly, I just want everyone to come and raise a glass for Steve”.
She also congratulated fellow lucky neighbours – described as a “really close-knit group in Old Canvey”.
‘TOUGH YEAR’
One resident managed to scoop an impressive £62,000 in total, playing the lottery with two tickets.
People’s Postcode Lottery ambassador Matt Johnson said: “It was such a pleasure to bring this surprise to Susan.
“It’s been a very tough year for her and the family and I’m especially happy that we could bring her and the neighbours who have rallied round them a bit of good news after a difficult time.
“A massive congratulations to Susan and all our other winners on Canvey!”
