West Lothian £4m lotto winner tells how win tainted with sadness after death of husband

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A West Lothian lottery winner who scooped a £4 million jackpot has told how her win was tainted with sadness after the death of her husband.

Donna Hendry, 54, told of her heartbreak despite their good fortune in discovering they had won £4,078,509 jackpot.

Speaking as the National Lottery celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first ever Lottery tickets being sold, Donna, who lives in West Lothian, and her husband David collected the cheque in January 2015 before David passed away after a short battle with cancer.

The couple had been together for most of their lives, 30 years, and married for 23.

They gave up their jobs upon winning and bought a bigger house in the same area.

Donna, who also travelled with Elvis fan David to Memphis before he was diagnosed in 2020, said: “He died four months later and our son was only 18 at the time. He’s just graduated with a first, and I know his father would have been so proud.”

Donna was one of a number of Scots who gathered with other winners from throughout the UK to mark the National Lottery’s 30 year mark.

Lesley Higgins, 63, and husband Fred, 74, won a staggering £57,975,367 EuroMillions jackpot in July, 2018.

The couple now live on a grand 850-acre estate near Perth, purchased after their momentous win which Lesley believes not only changed their lives but saved her husband’s.

Lesley said: “When we won, I placed our winning ticket in an envelope and wrote, ‘Money worries over’. In fact, our win saved Fred’s life.

“It meant we could afford a custom-made kilt to attend our niece’s wedding so when Fred was measured up and then returned to collect the kilt six weeks later and it fell off him as he’d lost so much weight and we hadn’t noticed, we knew there was a problem.

“He was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and had surgery, so I feel that The National Lottery saved his life in a way.”

Brian Sharp, 63, from Musselburgh, East Lothian, won a £2,033,705 Lotto jackpot in June 2010 while working a night shift as an electrician at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

He lives with wife Ann, 62.

The couple bought their dream five-bedroom home beside the river that they used to walk along as a young couple and dream of owning a house alongside.

Brian said: “Our aim is to see every Formula 1 Grand Prix and, as we go around the world following Formula One racing, we’ve rubbed shoulders with Damon Hill and David Coulthard and we’ve spotted Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg.”

For the past 30 years The National Lottery has supported good causes as a way to bring positive change to communities right across the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.

Since the first draw was held in 1994, the lottery funds have helped raise over £49 billion for good causes and awarded over 690,000 individual grants to projects and organisations, making a real difference to local communities.

£30 million is donated to causes every week.

30 National Lottery millionaires came together to be photographed by renowned celebrity photographer Rankin to mark three decades since the very first ticket was sold.

The 30 winners, who are worth more than £190m combined, represent just a fraction of the 7,400 millionaires created since the first draw.

The three Scottish winners, Lesley, Donna and Brian, are worth a combined £64m and featured in the landmark photoshoot.

Scots photographer Rankin, who has captured a host of iconic figures including HRH Queen Elizabeth II and The Rolling Stones, gathered the winners at his London studio to commemorate the first National Lottery tickets first went on sale on November 14, 1994.

The results are intimate individual portraits, smaller group shots and a historic shot of all 30 National Lottery winners together.

Rankin added: “I am extremely lucky that I get to meet and work with extraordinary people, from famous actors and models through to NHS nurses.

“I remember when The National Lottery first started and it was intriguing to meet the real winners and hear their stories and experiences.

“They are normal people who have had an extraordinary thing happen to them, transforming their lives. That is what we set out to capture.”

During the shoot the winners shared life-changing stories from boob jobs to fast cars and luxury holidays but also personal tragedies.

Ray Wragg, 86, from Sheffield won a £7,649,520 Lotto jackpot in January 2000, with late wife, Barbara.

Ray retired as soon as his winning numbers came up and the couple immediately started thinking about who they could help.

“We gave £5.5 million away to family and friends, hospitals and good causes.”

Sarah Cockings, 40, from Whitley Bay, won a £3,045,705 Lotto jackpot in April 2005 and has since paid for breast enhancement surgery for herself and her two sisters.

Since the first draw on 19 November 1994, The National Lottery has created more than 692 Scottish millionaires.

£3.8 billion has been raised to help support thousands of projects and charities, transforming communities across Scotland.

National Lottery funding has built iconic landmarks like the Kelpies, V&A Dundee and Hampden, enabled community buy-outs including Gigha and supported our sporting heroes such as Sir Chris Hoy.

Kathy Garrett, Winners’ Advisor at Allwyn, operators of The National Lottery, said, “The National Lottery has been changing lives, helping communities and supporting charities for 30 years.

“On average seven millionaires are created every week across our games and these lovely winners are just a tiny fraction of the lucky players who have won incredible sums of money over the years.”

Lesley said, “Winning The National Lottery has totally changed our lives - and the lives of those around us too. It has also bought us time to support charities which are close to our hearts. Without the win we would never have been able to do all we can today.

“It has been a whirlwind - but one incredible whirlwind. And we cannot believe it is 30 years since the first ticket was sold - and we were there on that first day. And are still buying tickets today.”

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