A BELFAST woman has told how she scooped £1m in the EuroMillions draw after popping into a shop to kill time after her bus to work broke down.
Helena Panford (59), originally from Ghana, bought the ticket at Russell’s Shop 4 U on the Albertbridge Road, in east Belfast last week.
The mother-of-two said what initially appeared to be misfortune turned into luck beyond her wildest dreams.
“I was on my way to work in Belfast when the bus broke down so, after rolling my eyes at the misfortune, and telling myself that every misfortune is a blessing, I popped into a nearby shop and bought a ticket for the Friday EuroMillions draw," she said.
"I was so worried that I was going to be late for work that the last thing on my mind was that I would win a million pounds”
It wasn’t until 24 hours later that Helena decided to check her ticket and discovered she had matched the unique EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker code in the draw on Friday June 17 to win a guaranteed £1 million
“After checking my numbers I realised I hadn’t won the jackpot but my daughter in Ghana encouraged me to take the ticket to the shop where I purchased it, to be sure.”
The next day Helena took her ticket to a shop in Belfast city centre.
“The lady working in the shop checked my ticket for me and the first thing I noticed was the shocked look of joy on her face. She looked at me and screamed: "You’ve won £1m’ and I immediately dropped to my knees from shock and started to cry.”
“The staff were so great with me and were able to calm me down but to be honest I have never felt so happy.”
Helena, who has family staying with her at the moment on holiday, said she now hoped to buy a house, car, help her family and bring her daughter from Ghana to Northern Ireland to study for her PHD.
