£7M lottery winner goes back to work
Posted: 8/25/2008 8:11:38 AM
A train driver who won a £6.9 million (US$12.8 million) lottery fortune has booked a return ticket — and gone back to work on the railways.
Carl Prance gave up his job of 34 years for a string of dream holidays when his family hit the jackpot.
But just 10 months later he's getting up at 5am to drive 30 miles in his luxury Jaguar to start his 6am shift.
Prance, 50, missed the lure of trains so much after both his father and grandfather spent their lives on the railways.
He said, "Some people might think I'm mad with all this money but trains are in my blood. My father and grandfather worked on the railways all their lives. I couldn't spend the rest of my life on holiday.
"After the win I went on holiday to various resorts abroad but I couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life. We went to Greece, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Spain but After a few months of holidays I was itching to get back to work."
Prance failed a medical to return as a train driver but was so desperate to work that he retrained for another job with Arriva Trains.
He found a new station in life and now works as a £600-a-week resource manager at Arriva Trains HQ in Cardiff setting the rotas for drivers and guards.
"I was disappointed to be told that I could not go back as a driver because my hearing wasn't 100%," Prance said.
"But I was delighted when they offered a job in the offices and I was thrilled to take it because it meant I was working with trains and my old workmates again."
Father-of-three Prance and five members of his family won £6.9m in October last year, a share of a massive £88m (US$163 million) Euro Millions bonanza.
Prance and wife Gillian, also 50, left their terraced house in Splott, Cardiff, and now live in a £64,000 luxury caravan in at the seaside resort of Trecco Bay, Porthcawl.
Prance now jumps into his new Jaguar at dawn to drive to Cardiff for his shift.
He will soon be working on a three-shift system and has already put in a night shift week from 10pm to 5am.
Other members of the family have also bought luxury caravans to set up a "Millionaires Row" at Trecco Bay.
Prance admitted he preferred to risk the British weather rather than buying a home in the tropical sunshine of the Bahamas.
"I could have bought a holiday home anywhere in the world but we love our caravans more. I've been coming Porthcawl since I was a little boy and always dreamed of having my own luxury caravan there. I feel so lucky.
"It's lovely. Why would we want to go anywhere else? When we won the lottery the whole family decided to move to Porthcawl. It's our favourite place on the planet."
The couple gave their three-bedroomed house in Splott, Cardiff, to daughter Sarah, 19, and paid off the mortgages of sons Lee, 30, and Ian, 27.
Prance's brother Steven, 47, sisters Jacquie Wood, 53, Christine Mills, 52, and Ceri Howe, 43, and mother-in-law Lilian picked up a total of £6,989,367.40.
An Arriva Trains spokeswoman said they were "delighted" that Carl Prance has decided to return to work.
"We know that once working for the railways gets into people's blood they are keen to keep on the right track for us."
Source: South Wales Echo
