'We lost everything when our home flooded - then we won postcode lottery'

03 August 2023 , 07:51

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Tracy Braithwaite celebrating her £123,076 win

A nurse has told of her "mind-blowing" lottery win on the back of losing everything after her house was flooded from a bathroom leak.

Tracy Braithwaite, 40, won a massive £123,076 in the People's Postcode Lottery just six months after having to cancel her children's dream holiday to pay for repairs from the damage done to their home. The mum-of-two has now been able to move back into her own home in Driffield, Yorkshire, and take her children on their trip to Disney World Florida.

Tracy, who works as an urgent care nurse practitioner, said: "To win 20 grand would have been life-changing for us but to win that amount is just completely mind-blowing. It's bonkers. We had to vacate our house literally the day after my 40th birthday when the bathroom flooded.

"And then the money I'd saved which should have been going towards Disneyland Florida for my birthday went on the house." For the past seven months, the Braithwaites have been living with Tracy's mum, Angela, while the repairs took place.

Neighbours in St Margarets Close, Driffield, won the Postcode Lottery

But all came good for the single mum when lottery ambassador Jeff Brazier knocked on her door last Friday, reports Hull Live. She admitted: "I just didn't think it was my year because everything was going horribly wrong, but this [win] has just completely turned it all around. We'll be able to move back home sooner than we thought."

London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard

Tracy is also planning to upgrade her car and treat her children, Dominic, seven, and Lydia, 13, to another holiday of a lifetime, as well as investing in a new drum kit for her son and an electric guitar for her Metallica fan daughter. She said: "I'd love to take the kids to Lapland, it's always been on my bucket list, and I could even get a new car.

"All you want as a mum is to give your kids a better life and this [win] has changed our lives in an instant." The ecstatic nurse had to put celebrations on hold until her 10-hour shift was over. She said: "I'm going to be skipping into work today, on cloud nine, and I've still not told anyone at work yet."

Tracy was one of ten neighbours to bag the biggest prizes after their Yorkshire postcode - YO25 6XX - was announced as the lottery's full winning postcode in their monthly Postcode Millions draw. Across the road, 25-year-old Kieran Wright bagged £123,076, all thanks to his caring mum, Tracey Wright.

Kieran Wright with his mum Tracey

Ms Wright, 53, set up a lottery subscription in Kieran's name after he moved into his first house. Kieran said: "I moved out of my mum and dad's back in October last year and my mum just dropped into conversation that she was going to sign me up for the Postcode Lottery. I'm going to split it with mum because it's all down to her. Ta mum."

Kieran, who works for Alfred Bekker, making vehicles wheelchair accessible, now wants to go to Rome to watch the Ryder Cup. His mum, who works at a local chippy, will spend some of her half on an electric bike and she added: "I might treat my daughter Toni - Kieran's twin sister - to a free bar at her wedding."

Meanwhile, school kitchen assistant and single mum-of-three Claire Hales, 50, is set to ditch her old Renault Clio for "a swanky new Audi with shiny rims" with her £123,000 cheque. She said: "This will be life-changing for me and the kids, it really takes the pressure off."

The St Margarets Close postcode also saw Laura Blackburn, 37, Kevin Ashby, 69, Rachell Boyes, 45, Pauline Preston, 85, and Richard Goldfinkle, 62, all cashing in with £123,076 each. Contract manager Michael Braithwaite, 58, doubled his win to £246,152 - the dad-of-four was at work when the lottery turned up on his street but partner Lee Knaggs, 47, and daughter Ione, 28, received the amazing prize sum on his behalf.

The biggest winner on the street, who chose to remain anonymous, won an incredible £369,228 thanks to playing with three tickets. Another 923 lottery players in the postcode sector, YO25 6, celebrated cash wins ranging from £1,531 to £6,124, depending on how many tickets they had.

People's Postcode Lottery ambassador Jeff Brazier said: "It's been a wonderful day surprising many of our winners in the full winning postcode. It's amazing that over 920 happy people in the postcode sector have each scooped a tidy four-figure win. Congratulations Driffield!"

Deborah Hall