Lottery winner Peter Lavery has described being very lucky as he is back home after being struck by a bus in Belfast city centre.
A Citybus driver prior to his 1996 £10m lottery win, Mr Lavery was crossing the road near city hall when he was struck by a double-decker bus last Monday.
The 61-year-old, a founder of Titanic Distillers, was heading for a business meeting at the Europa Hotel around 9am when the accident happened.
“I know I was very lucky, but it’s not the first time I have been lucky,” said the Short Strand man, with a nod to his £10.2m jackpot back in the 1990s.
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In an interview with the Sunday World from his home in north Down, Mr Lavery told how he lost some blood after suffering an injury to his head.
“I am alright. I lost a bit of blood in the accident and obviously I was in shock, but apart from feeling a bit sore, I am getting better. I know I was very lucky.”
He added: “I got 16 stitches in the back of my head and I am getting them out on Monday. I hope to get back to work when that’s done.”
Mr Lavery described how he was heading for the morning business meeting and was crossing Donegall Square West when the collision happened.
“The bus hit me full force. I was three-quarters the way across the road and when I saw it coming, I just knew, flip it’s hitting me, I just knew.”
He was knocked out for a time. A police officer administered first aid prior to an ambulance crew arriving to take him to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Police cordoned off the scene for several hours on Monday, erecting a tent in the middle of the road as the area was forensically examined. One other person was taken to hospital, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service said.
Mr Lavery, in the interview with the newspaper, cautioned he could not speak too much as he expected the police will want to speak to him. As a former bus driver, he knows the procedure following an accident involving a company vehicle.
The lottery winner was the subject of a BBC documentary that aired last month and which revealed his life and times since he won the jackpot.
In the early days, there was a lot of partying, too much, Mr Lavery came to conclude. There was also much charity work and now the establishment of the distillery in the Titanic Quarter.
