West Yorkshire couple ‘tick off new milestone’ as they take home £1 million National Lottery win

Craig and Karen Mitchell, 53, who shared their first kiss at Karen’s 15th birthday party, were enjoying a holiday with their friends and family when they discovered they had won the EuroMillion UK Millionaire Maker. 

Believing something “would come up”, Karen said: “After 28 years as a specialist cancer care nurse, next month I start a new role as a specialist Macmillan Sister in Palliative and End-of-Life Care with Mid-Yorkshire Trust. 

“So, while Craig was driving us up to Scotland for our holiday, I decided to call the car lease company to explain my employment was changing, only to be told there would be a £400 admin fee. 

“Craig groaned and said that wasn’t the best start to our holiday but I confidently shrugged it off and said ‘something will come up.’ I won’t lie, I definitely didn’t expect the ‘something’ to be a £1 million win on The National Lottery but it’s certainly going to make that admin fee less of a pain!”

Their new lives started just as they were returning from a Saturday morning stroll on the beach at the holiday home they were staying at. 

As Craig was browsing through his phone, he spotted a message from The National Lottery. Catching his wife just as she was heading up the stairs to show her the message, Karen suggested it was probably just a tenner, but that a call to the lottery might be worth it.

Craig said: “It was a surreal moment, Karen and I were in the bedroom secretly calling the National Lottery line while everyone else was getting ready to go sight-seeing. 

“As soon as the win was confirmed Karen started dancing and whooping with joy – I could have kissed her like we were 15 all over again – and the crowd downstairs quickly forgot about sightseeing, wanting to know what all the fuss was about.”

Karen said, “We went downstairs and announced we had something to say, everyone was worried it was bad news so it was wonderful to instead tell them that we’d won the lottery! Their faces were a picture.

 “We did try to go sight-seeing but I think we were all in such a state of shock that by 3pm we’d given up and headed to the nearest bar for celebratory cocktails. Discovering we’d won on The National Lottery was incredible, but what has made it doubly special was being with people who mean so much to us. We’re very blessed.”

Having already made a few plans for their win, Karen added: “First and foremost we will be helping out our boys and close family members. Knowing that those dearest to us will also benefit from the win is the icing on the cake to this whole amazing adventure. 

 “We’ve already paid off the mortgage and wasted no time in replacing that lease car – I’ve already found myself a Mercedes EQC, while Craig is taking his time and building a shortlist of dream cars. I think he’s currently stuck between an Audi GT and a BMW M3 – not a bad dilemma to have!”