EXCLUSIVEWhat it's REALLY like to 勝利，勝つ the 宝くじ... by a couple who banked £2.2m
Nearly three １０年間s ago, my husband won £1,500 on The 国家の 宝くじ not long after it had first started.
When Colin* popped into his 地元の 地位，任命する Office to （人命などを）奪う，主張する his winnings, the man behind the 反対する told him people who 勝利，勝つ a small 量 on the 宝くじ tend to 勝利，勝つ again.
'Yeah, 権利! He got that wrong,' we often joked together in the years that followed. For although Colin played every week, there was no such 勝利，勝つ.
But one Wednesday night in February 2012, in the days when the 宝くじ results were テレビ放送するd, Colin stayed up to check his numbers in the draw.
I had just gone to bed and ― I'm not sure why ― I decided to pray for us to 勝利，勝つ.
Life-changing: A 宝くじ winning couple - who scooped £2.2m in February 2012 - have 選ぶd to spend much of their winni ngs on 巡航するs and trips
The previous year had been a 堅い one for both of us. My brother had passed away in November, which knocked me for six, while Colin, then 51, had fallen off a ladder. His skull fractured in two places, he 割れ目d three ribs and he broke a bone in his 手渡す.
He was out of （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 as a self-雇うd gardener and, with me working as a part-time receptionist, we were beginning to feel the pinch.
I'll never forget Colin coming into the bedroom and 説, almost in a whisper, 'I think I've won the 宝くじ'.?
Colin thought he'd matched five numbers ― six were needed to 勝利，勝つ the jackpot ― and he guessed he may have won around £50,000.
We tried to call Camelot, then 操作者 of The 国家の 宝くじ, but it couldn't 立証する our ticket until the n ext morning.
So began one of the longest nights of my husband's life. While I snored my を回避する, Colin tells me he lay awake most of the night.
He went to bed thinking he may have won £50,000 ― the same 量 as the mortgage remaining on our three-bed home in the Midlands.
But when Colin phoned Camelot first thing in the morning, he began to cry. Through the 涙／ほころびs he told me, 'We've won £2.2 million.'
And then my 涙／ほころびs began to 落ちる. 涙／ほころびs of unbridled joy. Our lives were about to change for ever.
It only started to 沈む in when one of the 勝利者s' 助言者s from Camelot visited us that same day to 立証する our ticket. The money was in our account in いっそう少なく than a week. It was unbelievable to see our balance with so many 無s.
I retired from my 職業 as a receptionist すぐに, but Colin went 支援する to work for three years.
He couldn't やめる しっかり掴む that he didn't need to work any more. And I suppose that it took us that long to fully adjust to our new-設立する wealth. It's not surprising given we were suddenly thrust into a world where we didn't need to worry about the size of the gas 法案.
I had young grandchildren at the time of the 勝利，勝つ, and anyone with a young child knows there's no way to stop them 説 確かな things, so that's why we went public at first. Today, we try to keep it under 包むs as much as possible ― some people can be やめる unfriendly.
The first thing we did after we paid off our mortgage was 長，率いる to a car showroom. We were すぐに recognised by a family friend who worked there and knew of our windfall. We soon realised there was no hope of getting a 割引d price for a car.
Colin could have bought any car he 手配中の，お尋ね者. But my husband chose a £35,000 Mercedes-Benz 広い地所.?
Since then he's bought two 範囲 Rovers and a Jaguar F-type. I've also had a Mercedes-Benz B-Class.?
He's since slowed 負かす／撃墜する on his fancy car collection, although he's always 手配中の，お尋ね者 a Bentley. He now has a Lexus RX and I 運動 a Volkswagen Polo.
We fitted a 二塁打 garage for the cars. It 始める，決める us 支援する £20,000 but we 手配中の，お尋ね者 to hide them when people （機の）カム to 引用する us for 職業s.
We also hide the photo collage in our kitchen of us receiving the comically large cheque at a nearby 高級な hotel, as 労働者s could 引き上げ（る） up the price of 職業s if they saw this on our 塀で囲む.
Some 隣人s were thrilled for us. Colin says he popped into our 地元の shop after the 勝利，勝つ to find it plastered with our photographs. Colin loved it but I didn't step foot in that shop for years ― I was too embarrassed.
The friends we've known since before the 勝利，勝つ 行為／法令／行動する 普通は around us, but when we tell people we've just met they look at us as if we've got two 長，率いるs.
Allwyn, which now operates The 国家の 宝くじ, arranges volunteering with other 勝利者s.
The group 調印するs up to do voluntary work such as visiting nursing homes and refreshing the gardens in arboretums ― you've got to give 支援する if you've been so lucky, 港／避難所't you? We find it refreshing to 会合，会う people in the same 状況／情勢 as us.?
It's lovely because you can show off a little bit without feeling 有罪の, so I don't need to hide the new 捕らえる、獲得するs I buy. Colin has bought me two Mulberry handbags over the years.
We're friends with some of the other 勝利者s ― we've been out for dinner with one couple and a small group of us went to the funeral of a fellow 宝くじ 勝利者.
Memories: The winning couple has shied away from 構成要素 items in 最近の years and 選ぶd to travel more, racking up 21 巡航するs, 含むing two world 巡航するs
The first time I went into Selfridges in Birmingham after the windfall I tried on a £300 cream-and-黒人／ボイコット satin dress. I could not 正当化する spending that much on a dress for myself ― but then I remembered I could.
The most lavish 購入（する） we've made are our almost 同一の Oyster Perpetual Rolexes which 始める，決める us 支援する just under £20,000.
Colin had always 手配中の，お尋ね者 one, so we visited Goldsmiths in Birmingham to 選ぶ out his dream watch. The jeweller asked me if I was going to get one, too, so out I walked with an £11,000 watch. We hid them on our 旅行 home.
We've shied away from 構成要素 items in 最近の years and 選ぶd to travel more. Before our 勝利，勝つ, we took one 巡航する a year which we had to save for year-一連の会議、交渉／完成する.
Since the 勝利，勝つ we've been on 21 巡航するs, 含むing two world 巡航するs ― a third is 調書をとる／予約するd for January 2025.
We ha d a 巡航する to the Caribbean planned for the month after we won.
My husband says when he stepped on to the ship he felt a wave of emotion ― we were on the same 巡航する the year before and just one year later he was there as a millionaire.
While we didn't visit the Maldives on a 巡航する, our visit there was the best trip we've ever taken. We loved the 訴える手段／行楽地 so much we went twice in the same year.
The staff remembered us and couldn't do enough for us. My husband 解任するs an embarrassing moment from the second time we visited.
The 郊外住宅 we were staying in had a 広大な／多数の／重要な open 見解（をとる） of the sea. The shrubbery was overgrown わずかに so he couldn't やめる see the sea while lying in bed.?
Colin について言及するd it casually to a staff member who walked past ― and they 削減（する） the overgrowth within five minutes. We were mortified.
We've only flown first-class once after another 宝くじ 勝利者 納得させるd us to take the leap. But we've never done it again as my husband says he can't 正当化する the 引き上げ（る） in price between 商売／仕事 and first-class.
While we've enjoyed our wealth, we didn't keep it all to ourselves.
Over the years Colin bought houses for my two daughters from a previous marriage and 寄付するd a defibrillator to my grandson's special needs school, and we bought flowers for volunteers at the 地元の 癌 centre.
We don't feel 豊富な enough to give thousands of 続けざまに猛撃するs away at a time ― the money would soon run out ― but we sponsor people and 寄付する to charity here and there.
We give 支援する to our community by litter 選ぶing, although we joke that people wouldn't realise we had won the 宝くじ if they saw us out on the roads 選ぶing up crisp packets and drink 瓶／封じ込めるs.
We now live in a four-bedroom detached house with electric gates just 負かす／撃墜する the road from our old house.?
We almost 選ぶd for an even grander 所有物／資産／財産 but thank goodness we didn't ― we would never have been able to afford the upkeep.
We moved in a year after our 勝利，勝つ and it cost us £500,000, but my husband says he wouldn't be surprised if it was valued at closer to £1 million now. We're やめる proud of it, and the 巨大（な） cheque hangs on our bedroom 塀で囲む.
However, a downsize is on the cards for the 未来. We have three and a half bathrooms and we don't use them all ― my husband tells me he goes into the 未使用の ensuite every few months just to 紅潮／摘発する the loo!
Although £2.2 million is a life-changing 量, it doesn't last. It's not enough that we can spend, spend, spend without 抑制.
And we've seen our once handsome マリファナ slowly dwindle. It's incredibly tricky to balance the spending. Colin is 13 years my junior so we need to 確実にする there's enough for us to enjoy a comfortable life for the next 20-加える years.
The 宝くじ has given us a wonderful life. Aside from having children, it's the best thing that could happen to anybody.
To anyone wondering whether money makes you happy ― it 絶対 does.
As told to LUCY EVANS
*指名するs have been changed.
- Has a 宝くじ 勝利，勝つ changed your life? Tell us your story: l.evans@dailymail.co.uk
