Birthday ‘mistake’ makes millionaires of Paddy and Gail

The 50-year-old father of two plumped for family birthdays and anniversaries in the huge Euromillions draw on August 10 and by putting his wife Gail’s age down as 48 instead of 49, his ticket came up with five winning numbers and one lucky star, landing the couple a cheque for £1,994,322.90p.

They picked up their winnings and revealed their identity at a press conference at the Galgorm Resort & Spa on Thursday morning.

Paddy said he usually buys one ticket for each of the Tuesday and Friday EuroMillions draws but because of the £148m jackpot on August 10, he decided to splash out on a total of 10 tickets, buying the winning line at The Newsrack on Ballymena’s Ballymoney Street.

“I do the same numbers on my usual tickets but the winning line was a spur of the moment selection - the girls’ ages of 11 and 17, 21 for our wedding anniversary, my age of 50 - and of course, Gail’s wrong age of 48. We were married in 1990 so I reversed that to 09 to give us the winning star”.

Paddy and Gail agree that the amount they scooped will probably be “life-changing,” but say they have no plans just yet as to how they are going to spend it - apart from maybe a new car for Gail. However, the couple, who are both nurses - Paddy in a district nursing team, Gail in Antrim Area Hospital - hope their £2m windfall will enable them to secure a good future for their children and spend more time with their parents.

“It’s going to make a lovely difference,” said Gail.

“We always say our life is very good at the minute but at the same time we save hard and don’t over spend. Our needs are not great. We are people who are happy with our lot but maybe that’s down to the nursing”.

Despite seeing the numbers come up on Friday, it wasn’t until two days after the draw that Paddy called into a shop for a proper check and then it dawned on him that he had won ‘by mistake’, having picked the wrong number for his wife’s age.

“It’s the best mistake I’ve made in my life!,” said Paddy who admitted he shed a tear or two at the time.

“I just couldn’t believe that I had six numbers out of seven,” he said.

Paddy, however, didn’t tell Gail of their new found fortune until the next morning - so they could all get a good night’s sleep.

“To be honest, I’m still in shock. It feels very scary to be ‘a millionaire’, it hasn’t sunk in,” he told The Times.

Gail said: “We’ve had a little bit of time to reflect now but we still have a lot of thinking to do. But for sure we will be able to look after our parents and other members of the family. It’s wonderful”.

Owner of The Newsrack newsagents where the winning line was bought, Sam, said he was delighted for Paddy and Gail and wished them “all the best” for the future.

“We’re a lucky shop - we must be - because we’ve had quite a few good wins on the Lottery and scratchcards,” he said.

“A customer won £4,000 on a scratchcard two or three weeks ago,” said Sam.

“We had someone win £1,000 on a scratchcard a while back and two customers scooped quite a bit of money each by getting four hotpicks numbers. So, hopefully Paddy and Gail will come back to us and buy plenty more tickets”.

Congratulations were also extended to the Millars by Ballymena Mayor, Alderman P.J. McAvoy.

He said: “I was delighted to see winners of the EuroMillions lottery draw from right here in the borough.

“I congratulate Paddy & Gail Millar on their good fortune and new found wealth and trust that they will enjoy security and peace of mind through their recent windfall.”

Just hours after picking up their sizeable cheque, Ballymena’s new millionaires drove down south with daughters Alex (17) and Julia (11) for a four-day break they’d planned weeks ago.

“Like many families we’ve been feeling the pinch in recent times and rather than going abroad we had planned a holiday nearer home,” said Paddy. “Maybe we will go further afield in the not too distant future”.