Lucky man wins £1 million lottery jackpot while in bed suffering with Covid infection
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A lucky granddad has landed a £1million lottery jackpot just one day after testing positive for Covid-19.
Delivery driver Mark Francis, 49, was at home "coughing and spluttering" from his sickbed when he got the email to say he had won.
He immediately rang the hotline and was stunned to be told he was a EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker winner.
Mark, from Swansea, said: “The day before I had been driving and I felt unwell.
“I went home to do a lateral flow test and it came up positive.
“The next day I was watching daytime TV and thought that I might as well check my emails to see if I had won anything.
“I could only see that I had one number matched on the draw so I was confused," he added.
“I didn't realise I had won on the raffle draw and there is only one winner.
“The woman on the phone paused for a long time and then said, ‘Yes Mr Francis, you are a millionaire.
“I don't even remember what I replied. It's all a blur."
Mark, who works for Euro Car Parts, then rang his partner Helen Taylor, 50, to tell her the news.
Carer Helen was about to help a woman into the shower when she told Mark it wasn't a great time to call.
She said: “I told him, ‘Mark I can't take the call at the minute’ and he was like, ‘You need to take this. I'm not messing about’.”
Mark spent his days in isolation looking for a new house online after only telling close family about the win.
The couple, who have four children and five grandchildren, spent the next few days “in denial” while Mark focused on getting over the virus.
He then got a notification to say the money had gone into his account before looking at his balance to see the string of zeros.
He said: “I saw it and I thought, ‘Oh it is real’. We told immediate family straight away but kept it quiet other than that.
The couple plan to stick with their day jobs after working through the whole of the pandemic.
Mark said: “I want to keep working. I'm in a job I really enjoy and I get on really well with my colleagues.
“We had already booked an all-inclusive holiday to Rhodes so we've kept that and are going in the summer.
“We are planning to help out the family with the money and buy a house with a nice garden. We want to stay in the area.
“We'll probably go on a big family holiday next year, maybe in Majorca.”
Mark has also splashed out on an Audi Q5 and would also like to take a “once in a lifetime trip” to see the British Lions in Australia 2025.
He added: “The rest of the money will be a nice nest egg for when we retire.
“It takes the pressure off now and we don't need to work overtime.”
