Lottery winner's first six dramatic words after realising he'd won huge jackpot

17 December 2023 , 16:40

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Mal Duggan celebrating his lottery win at Goodison Park (Image: Gareth Jones)

A man said he couldn't believe his luck when he discovered he scooped £1million on the National Lottery - all thanks to a call from his dad.

Mal Duggan, who works as a binman in Widnes, Cheshire, won big by matching five main numbers and the Bonus Ball on December 2, 2023. His dad Tony, who knows Mal's lottery numbers by heart, was the one to break the news.

Mal said: "My dad knew my numbers off by heart and he knew they were winning numbers. He didn't want to say congratulations in case I had forgotten to play. He called me and just asked 'Mal did you play Lotto last night?' and fortunately I had."

Mal Duggan is a lifetime Everton fan Picture by Gareth Jones (Gareth Jones)

He continued: "At that point, I hadn't checked my numbers and my dad said you may just want to go online and check. I could not believe it when I did! My jaw just dropped and I just screamed 'oh my God, we are millionaires'."

The Everton supporter is already enjoying his win, having treated himself to a new PS5 and shoes for his girlfriend. Mal plans to buy a dream house, a car for his dad, and have the best Christmas ever. Plus, he is eyeing the best seats at Goodison Park to see Seamus Coleman and dreams of riding the Orient Express next year.

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The binman is still shocked by his big win. He said: "The win is totally life-changing and it actually all still feels surreal. I keep thinking I am going to wake up from a dream and discover I have totally fantasised this whole once in a lifetime moment."

The National Lottery added: "Thanks to National Lottery players, £30M is generated each week for National Lottery-funded projects. This money helps fund projects across the nation, with over 670,000 grants supporting projects both big and small having been made across the UK to date and over £47BN having been raised for good causes."

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]

Ed Holt