PA MediaA builder who won £1m on the National Lottery says he has fulfilled “every parent’s dream” by paying off his four daughters’ mortgages.
Terry Gillings, of Stanley, County Durham, said he would “never forget” phoning his children to tell them about the win.
However, the triumph was accompanied by heartbreak as his 85-year-old father, who had prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease, died two days later.
“I like to think knowing [my wife] Caroline and I, and the girls, were all well set up for the future meant he slipped away more peacefully,” Mr Gillings said.
The 61-year-old added: “I told dad we’d won a million and, true to character, his first words were ‘don’t lie to us!’
“My dad always said ‘celebrate the wins’. That’s exactly what we intend to do and I’ve enjoyed telling everyone I’ve bumped into since that we’ve won.
“We’ve always worked hard and helped our kids where we can, but this is a whole other level. Surely it’s every parent’s dream.
“I’ll never forget phoning our daughters to tell them that their mortgages were being paid off. It generated quite a bit of screaming and joy.”
PA MediaMr Gillings has been a builder since he left school and continued to work in the days after the win but might now focus on his own project – developing a plot of land he bought with a friend some years ago.
He and his wife, 54, will also use the money to support Breast Cancer Awareness after close family members were affected by the disease.
Mr Gillings, a keen breeder of endangered birds such the Bali myna, hopes to spot one in the wild with a visit to Indonesia.
A trip to Machu Picchu, in Peru, is also on the cards for the couple.
Mr Gillings won the Lotto game on 26 March with the numbers 14, 17, 18, 22, 34 and 58.
