Heathfield plumber wins £333,333 on lunch break with People’s Postcode Lottery
A Heathfield plumber said his life has ‘changed forever’ after he won £333,333 on his lunch break.
People’s Postcode Lottery made the announcement on Monday, November 17, saying that John Fearman, 62, got the news as he tried to ‘grab a quick bite’.
They explained that he saw a camera crew at the end of his street and, within minutes, was holding a golden envelope.
John said: “I saw a few people in red coats, and I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ Then they came up and said they were from the Postcode Lottery. I honestly thought someone was winding me up. When they told me I’d won, I was completely blown away. I couldn’t speak. You work hard all your life; you don’t expect something like this to happen. But it has. And it’s changed everything.”
John said he plans to replace his old work van with a brand-new one and go on some dream holidays to Barcelona, Vietnam and New Zealand.
He said: “I’ve been doing the Postcode Lottery for about 11 years now. And I was honestly going to give it up last month. I thought, ‘Oh, it’s been years, and I’ve never won anything big.’ But I always liked that it supports charities – that’s why I stuck with it. Then this happens. It’s amazing. It just proves you never know what’s around the corner.”
John said the win will make a ‘massive difference’ to his life. He said: “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this. It’s absolutely mind-blowing.”
People’s Postcode Lottery said John and two Heathfield neighbours shared the lottery’s £1m Millionaire Street prize when TN21 8AP was announced as the winner on Monday.
Angela West, 67, also won a £333,333 prize and said her life feels full of hope again.
People’s Postcode Lottery explained that Angela was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer a decade ago. She was recovering when her husband, Dean West, died from pancreatic cancer in 2020, aged 63.
Angela said: “After everything we’ve been through, I just feel so lucky to be here. Every day is a blessing. You realise money can’t buy your health, but this win will help me enjoy life a bit more and help my family too.”
Angela has been playing the Postcode Lottery for years but had ‘only ever won a few tenners’. She said: “I even thought about giving it up. I’m glad I didn’t.”
She added: “I’ve had a lot of bad luck in my life, but this is something good at last.”
Angela is already set to fly to Thailand soon with her partner Stephen Hutchinson, 70.
Stephen said: “The whole idea of the holiday was that we need to live now while we’re fit and able. We always wanted to travel somewhere distant together, we might never do it again, but we want to see lots of places and enjoy life together.”
People’s Postcode Lottery said each winning ticket was worth £333,333. TN21 8AP was the first postcode to win £1 million this week, and People’s Postcode Lottery said six more postcodes will win the same prize each day. They said a winning postcode will be announced every day up to and including Sunday, November 23.