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1st December 2023
10:58am GMT
A plasterer who won big on the National Lottery has divided people over what he plans to do next.
John Stembridge is only 51, but plans to give up his job after winning £10,000 per month for the next 30 years on a Set For Life ticket.
Given he will be pocketing £120,000 every year into his early 80s, seems pretty understandable that he's hanging up his trowel.
But, some people think he should be a little more patient with his plans.
One commenter wrote: "Honestly, I wouldn’t quit work yet, I’d retire early but I’d want the money to stack up a bit first."
Another queried the win, writing: "Does it increase with inflation? As £10,000 in 30 years' time might not be worth much the way inflation is going."
John, from Wiltshire, was sitting in his van having a coffee when he spotted the unchecked ticket sticking out from under the visor.
Having finished a day of plastering, John decided to pop into a nearby shop and check the ticket. Little did he know, he'd matched the main five numbers and the Life Ball.
John recalled: “When the store assistant put it into the machine to check, the machine made a really strange noise - something I had never heard before."
The assistant then told John he would need to call the number on the ticket as it was a winner, "but she couldn't pay me. I just thought I had maybe won £100"
Returning to his van, John called Camelot.
"My heart was racing. It was quite surreal - a National Lottery advert came on the radio at that very moment, playing the telephone call of a winner… and literally, as this came on the radio my call was answered."
John then learned he had won the top prize of £10,000 per month for 30 years.
"I literally burst into tears and I cried my eyes out. I could not believe it!" he said.
"To be in the position where I get £10K every month, tax free, is just phenomenal - this National Lottery win has changed everything for me and those closest to me and I still just cannot believe it!”
John now plans to pursue his two passions, fishing and photography.
“It’s time to give up the trowels!" John said.
"There will be no more days of coming home covered in plaster dust and worrying about money and my family. "All of our lives are now changed forever. It makes me so happy that I can now help and support my family and those closest to me and I literally have no more worries in that respect."
John's longer-term plans are to open a luxury fishery and build his dream home on a lake, as well as buying a luxury camper van so he can go on a fishing adventure across Europe.
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