A North Wales delivery driver who spent years rising before dawn to transport fruit and vegetables has scooped a £1million Lotto prize, allowing him to hang up his keys for good.
Paul Wynne, 58, had been starting his shifts at 4am, delivering produce to care homes and nurseries across the region.
He said: “It’s life-changing for me…When I discovered I had won, I immediately worked out I could take an early retirement.
“Getting up at 3.15am and starting work at 4am is hard, especially in the winter in the ice and snow and I still had eight years left until I was due to retire.”
The father of eight revealed that topping his priorities is dedicating more time to his children and enjoying his love of horse racing.
Mr Wynne is particularly keen to take his eldest sons Danny, 37, Jake, 33, and Ricky, 32, to major racing events throughout the year.
“I’m looking forward to heading to the races and maybe putting on a few well-placed bets. I’m even thinking about buying a share of a racehorse, it would make going to the races even more special!” he said.
The windfall also means he can finally provide financial support to his children in ways he previously could not.
Paul Wynne scooped a win
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NATIONAL LOTTERY
“I’ve never been able to help out financially the way I’ve wanted to with my kids,” he said.
“When my son Danny got married, I wasn’t able to give him as much help as I wanted, but now I can really help them out and it makes me feel so happy.”
Wynne wasted no time putting some of his winnings to practical use, purchasing a replacement vehicle after his previous car had reached the end of its life.
“I’ve bought a new car and my old car has already been scrapped,” he said. “It was absolutely on his last legs, I don’t think it would have kept going much longer so I can’t believe how well it’s worked out for me to win this money.”
Mr Wynne is planning a holiday with his winnings
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NATIONAL LOTTERY
A trip across the Atlantic is also on the agenda, with the 58-year-old planning to visit New York later this year.
“Going to New York has always been on my bucket list,” he said.
The winning numbers were particularly meaningful to Wynne, as they were based on dates connected to his five youngest children.
The moment of discovery came early on a Sunday morning while his children were still asleep, and Wynne initially struggled to process what had happened.
The Wynne Family are planning a holiday to New York
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NATIONAL LOTTERY
He said: “It took a while to work out what was going on, to compute it. I thought I had won £1700 at first which I was overjoyed about but then I realised I had five main numbers and the bonus ball too, so it was £1m!”
Mr Wynne has been a Lotto player since the game first launched, using the same two lines of numbers for the past eight years.
Caroline Talbot, Winners’ Advisor at Allwyn, which operates The National Lottery, described meeting Wynne as “fantastic”, adding that the prize had arrived at the perfect moment for him to enjoy retirement with his family.
