Includes video report
A Scottish couple out of work due to ill health are Europe's biggest ever lottery winners, scooping £161.5 million (€184 million, or US$260.5 million) in the EuroMillions multi-country lottery game.
Colin Weir, 64, and his wife Chris, 55, who have been married for 30 years and live in the seaside town of Largs near Glasgow, claimed the prize after Tuesday's draw which followed a series of rollovers.
The prize catapaulted them into 430th place in this year's Sunday Times Rich List for Britain.
"We were tickled pink," Chris Weir, a former psychiatric nurse, said as the couple faced the press for the first time after waiving their right to anonymity.
"I even had a glass of white wine, which is something I normally only do at Christmas. It really is unbelievable."
Colin Weir, a former TV cameraman and studio manager, appeared slightly dazed by the attention.
"When we first realized we had won, it felt like a dream. But it feels like a good thing; something we should not be afraid of but for us to enjoy with the children," he said.
The Weirs said they will buy homes for their daughter Carly, 24, a photography student, and their son Jamie, 22, who works in a call center. Their children will also take their first driving lessons, they said.
They said they wanted to see the Great Wall of China and Uluru, as well as art galleries in Paris and Russia, while Colin, a fan of Spanish football, hopes to see Barcelona play from a personal box at the Camp Nou stadium.
The Weirs said they have both had several serious health conditions in recent years and have been unable to work.
Colin Weir suffered a leg injury and rheumatoid arthritis while Chris Weir worked in nursing for 37 years before quitting three years ago due to poor health.
The couple said they would have preferred not to go public but did not think they could keep their win secret, although they said they hoped their new-found wealth would not change them. They also said they would not be able to enjoy the win as fully by keeping it a secret.
"We are not flashy people," she said. Her husband added, "With wealth comes great responsibility."
The previous British record jackpot holder, who won €129 million (US$182.6 million) in October last year, chose to remain anonymous.
The EuroMillions lottery, launched in 2004, is now played in eleven countries across western Europe: Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
VIDEO: Watch the report
Happy for the couple, hope they are able to manage that kind of wealth and have it last for a long LONG time! :)
I hope the decisions they make from now on are better than the one deciding to go public and giving out their kids names and all that.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
BEST WISHES!!
Oh well ................................. I guess it takes all kinds .......................................
They now have the money to afford any sort of medical care to cure their poor health.
I agree, in the UK with its government-run healthcare system, their care was probably not all that great. They make people wait for months just for basic treatments, and the government can decide not to give treatment if they decide it's too expensive.
Righto Todd,
Well then. now the Lucky Scoties can afford to follow others from the UK to the USA and get necessary medical treatments on time.
EddessaKnight
The children are 22 and 24 and taking their first driving lessons?
Perhaps they should shell out and join Jenny Craig?
hey i guess they figure may as well go public, wouldnt be long till some scummy newspaper bought their identity off of a public sevant anyhow.
Coming soon to America..Government run healthcare, we are doomed.
Congrats to the winners, enjoy.
Well, if you are too poor in America, you don't get any medical treatment at all. No money, no treatment. America has the best health care in the world BUT only if you can afford it.
I guarantee you that within a week, people will line up in front of their house begging for money, their phone will ring off the hook, their email will exceed its storage capacity and their relatives from whom they never heard of will come out of the woods.
Not true. I have a sister who works for a major Dallas healthcare system (i.e. multiple hospitals). Ever heard of Medicade? Those that can't pay, don't. Those that just don't pay, don't. The problem is not having health insurance, the problem is how they are forced to bill it. Health insurance payment agreements are based upon what the non-insured get charged, and the non-insured rates are based upon the hospital covering those who don't pay. It's a vicious cycle and the healthcare industry is not getting 'fixed' with Obamacare. Not everything will get covered by Obamacare. In fact, probably less will be covered than private insurance (at least what private insurance survives beyond what Congress decided they themselves get to keep and you don't). Medicare pays for the diagnosis, not the care. Medicare patient comes in with a broken arm, and the doctor/hospital gets paid the same whether the patient gets a quick set or one, two, or three surgeries to repair.
Anyway, congrats to the couple. At least they recognize the great responsibility that goes with the win. Let's hope they get great advice and stick to it, and that they are success story for the future Lottery Winning stories.
Why in the he!! did they just put themselves & their children at risk??? I dont get why they chose to reveal themselves
Outside of the USA, kids do not have the sense of entitlement they do here -- not everyone "expects" to have a driver's license when they're 17, and many families can't afford cars (or more than one).
She said it would be more enjoyable if they went public. We'll have to revisit that statement in a few months.
I thought that line was intriguing.
First off, they've been living AT their means, unlike many, which says a LOT about them as people. Secondly, I guess they will be buying some new stuff and probably worried about what others would think of them suddenly buying a new car, fixing the house, going on trips.
Perhaps they realized that it would be "known" soon anyway, so they might as well do it on their own terms.
However, I agree about their kids - especially giving out their names! Again, maybe thinking it would get out there anyway. BUT.. there's rumor and then there's fact. Now it's a fact.
I just wished they had talked to a lawyer first. He probably would have told them to go anonymous. Or maybe they did and didn't follow his advice.
My problem is that I'm a horrible liar. WHEN I win the lottery, my reason for sudden wealth will have to be something that I can easily lie about. It's too bad they didn't go in that direction, but c'est le vie.
I guess they thought it would be "easier" but I think they'll realize in a year, that it's not.
I'm truly wishing them the best, but I have a bad feeling... leaning more towards the kids.
Hey Todd - can you interview them again in a year? See how they are doing?
That's nonsense, nobody goes without medical care in this country.
The worst medical care you'll ever get will be under Obamacare because it will be rationed by government bureaucrats (libs) who will decide if you are worthy of the cost of treating you. Like Obama said, if you're old and need an expensive operation to live, just take pain pills instead and get out of the way.
Obama himself will still get the best though.
He wrote the law to make sure Obamacare applies to us but doesn't apply to him and his buddies in government, they get gold-plated medical care for life.
Pretty good deal, eh?
I just love it when Libs claim you don't get Healthcare unless your wealthy in the USA. The whole reason the system is "broken" is because we give Healhcare to anyone who walks in the door and worry about the costs later. It's the ethically right thing to do, but people always claim ludicrous things about the system that are just plain wrong.
In America, everybody gets care, regardless of income status. It's the after cost that can screw up people's lives, but that's ineveitable for someone who doesn't pay for insurance. I don't get the sense of entitlement that insurance should be free, that health care should be free. Maybe it's just me, but I think you should have to pay for your insurance and they shouldn't regulate it anymore than I think they should regulate the, say, auto insurance industry.
Europe has a much better public transportation than the United States. They have bullet trains, like France TGV, while here in America we don't have bullet trains. You can survive pretty well in Europe without having a car. Not so with the United States with a few exceptions like NYC.
Not every poor people are eligible for Medicaid. If you make just a little bit over the poverty line, you are not eligible for Medicaid. You would be too rich to be covered by Medicaid but too poor to afford health care on your own. Watch PBS Frontline Sick around America online for an example.
yea,and i think their gas cost even more than ours.
Yea I imagine they figured it would be hard to hide the fact they won and that just wouldn't make it fun, either trying to always hide the win or having to not buy new expensive "toys".
BUT, if that was the case, why not just simply go ahead and buy new stuff and let it slip locally that they're the winners? You can go ahead and enjoy your win without announcing it to the whole world. Instead they've informed millions more about their win that otherwise wouldn't have gone through the trouble of searching the winners' city's paper constantly to see if the winners have popped up.
If I win my plan is to claim through a trust so that my name isn't out there. I'm not too entirely worried about it being known locally that I'm the winner, which will likely happen when I purchase a new car and possibly house, but I'm okay with that since my name will be at least unknown to the masses, which is the biggest problem. I won't be making any [noticeable] large purchases for a few months anyways, so I'd at least have time after I've claimed to get some things in order before I make it obvious to neighbors and friends that I've hit it big.
That is not entirely true. Sure there have been cases in which people have been pushed to the side at emergency rooms and died as a result of negligence...but those responsible for such negligence have been and are being persecuted for said negligence. Additionally, one can go to most any urgent care clinic and set up a payment plan if they cannot pay the bill all at once and don't have health insurance (I know because I have done that years ago). The problem is that many people think that "someone" else should pay the bulk of their health care expenses (i.e. employer, government, taxpayer, etc) and so many people choose to buy toys like Harley Davidson bikes, boats, jet skis, etc instead of doing the responsible thing and paying for their healthcare expenses. And some areas do have clinics that cater to the poor, but just like in Canada and Europe where the wait to receive treatment can be unbearable, those recipients of such care just have to be patient (no pun intended)!
Given their health problems, I would hope the first people they meet with are trusted lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors. They will definitely need some trusts and such drawn up, otherwise unless they get the best healthcare money can buy and lose some of that excess weight they are carrying around, they may not be around too long to enjoy all those millions they just won. After the financials are in place, the next people they should meet with are doctors and specialists and medically certified physical trainers. Or they could just roll the dice and live as long as their current health will allow them to live. Best of luck with that.
The Socialists pushing their agenda, plain and simple , if you can't afford insurance then work out a payment plan with you Doctor, Hey ,theres a new idea, be responsible for yourself.
Maybe the freeloaders won't breed out of control if they have to foot the bill, because I am good and tired of taking care of others, I work hard for my money, I would like to keep more of it.