A SHOCKED woman who scooped a £6.5million lottery jackpot has revealed she couldn't spend the funds for weeks due to a dramatic illness.
Viv Moss from Newquay, won the giant National Lottery prize with husband Kevin 23 years ago.
The mum of two said she had sickness and diarrhoea for a fortnight after winning the jackpot in 1998.
Viv said: “The shock of winning was like an unexpected death.
"I had sickness and diarrhoea for a fortnight, and lost a stone in weight, going from a size 16 to a 12."
After receiving the huge funds, Viv continued working at her job, despite no longer needing the cash.
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"I taught hair and beauty at a local college, but I couldn’t let the class down, so I carried on working for eight months until the end of their course," she said.
However, the family soon took advantage of the luxe new life the winnings allowed them to have.
"We went from a four-bed home to a five-bed, and drove our Ford Escort to a Range Rover showroom," she said.
"The salesman was called Rupert and when we told him we’d pay cash, he said ‘You’ve either just won the Lottery, or sold a business.’
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"We told him we had hit the jackpot. I swapped my eight-year-old Ford Focus for a convertible, but the dog didn’t like the wind in his ears, so I later chose a Bentley instead.”
The couple eventually used their winnings to retire early and move to Cornwall.
In 2021 she was part of a group of lottery winners who helped clean up a local beach.
Viv hasn't been the only lottery winner putting their jackpot to sensible use and kept working.
Mike Law, from Worcestershire, £2million in October 2021 but continued his job as a teacher until this summer.
Now, instead returning to the classroom he has begun writing historical adventure novels – which he hopes to get published.
He said: "To me, winning the National Lottery isn't about fast cars and speed boats, it's about opportunity and making memories.
"I have been given this chance and I'm very lucky to be able to have a go at making a long-standing passion, my job."
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