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Elaine Thompson with her husband Derek (left) and her brother Ian: "I'm still happy about every bargain"
Photo: Camelot
Elaine Thompson has told the story of her lucky day in December 1995 many times.
But she knows that people like to hear her.
Because just listening makes you a little happy.
It's Saturday, December 9th, 1995. Her husband, Derek Thompson, is going to London to attend a soccer game.
He and Elaine have been married for 17 years, it's their wedding anniversary.
But her husband does not want to celebrate the anniversary, but rather see Chelsea FC against Newcastle United.
As he drives off, he tells his wife not to forget to buy a lottery ticket.
The Thompsons then lived in Newcastle in a four-room house.
Many people in the neighborhood are unemployed or have poorly paid jobs.
Elaine is a part-time accountant and her husband is employed by Motorola.
The couple have been working for 53 weeks to win the lottery: one ticket a week, two pounds.
Elaine always enters the same numbers: 5, 11, 12, 26, 29 and 33. A mixture of birthdays and anniversaries, the age of the mother (33) when she had Elaine and the number of family members plus dog (5) .
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