An ELVIS DAFT estate agent has scooped £640,000 on People’s Postcode Lottery thanks to her dad’s winning postcode – and now she’s jetting off on a rock and roll trip across America.
Debbie Tuhey, 58, bagged a ‘life-changing’ lottery win after her dad Terry’s postcode was drawn as the biggest winner of a £3.2 million prize.
Now Debs is planning her holiday of a lifetime to the USA where she’ll visit the home of the late Elvis Presley.
Debbie of Penarth, near Cardiff, said: “Oh my God! It’s unbelievable. I can go to Graceland for my 60th!
“I don’t win anything at all. I can’t believe it. It’s going to be life-changing.”
Mum-of-one Debbie landed the whopping windfall with three Hazel Road neighbours after CF64 3PY was announced as the full winning postcode in Postcode Lottery’s monthly Millions prize on Saturday, June 1.
Every ticket was worth £320,000, but Debbie doubled her prize by playing with two.
And there were hundreds of others celebrating as 525 Penarth locals in the wider CF64 3 postcode area pocketed cash prizes of £2,631 up to £10,524.
Dumbfounded Debbie continued playing with her dad Terry’s postcode despite moving into her own house with hubby Keith several years ago.
Keith Tuhey, 66, said: “Debbie has been playing with this postcode for years and kept doing it even when we moved out. I then started playing at our home in Penarth Heights, hoping one day we’d win.”
Debbie only found out she was well over half-a-million pounds richer when hubby Keith phoned her to say she better come home quickly.
He said: “I think our lives have just changed forever. The whole day feels like a dream. This doesn’t happen to us; you couldn’t write this sort of thing.”
Debbie had received a phone call from Postcode Lottery earlier in the week saying she’d won at least £2,000 but didn’t expect to win a penny more.
She said: “Thanks to my boss Richard, I rushed away from work after Keith called to say ‘I better come home’. I thought it must be just over £2,000, and imagined it might be double that which would have been a nice surprise.
“Then to get the first cheque was incredible but to get two. I couldn’t speak, I’m still in shock.”
Keith held on to Debbie when she received her two winning cheques. He said: “To watch her joy was one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Even now I’m running it back in my head.”
The couple, who have been together for over 20 years, admitted they’d squabbled throughout the week after Debbie asked Keith to be home for the Postcode Lottery’s visit.
Keith, who works part-time in a joinery business, said: “I’ve argued with my wife all week but I’m so glad I was home.
“I was sceptical from the day Debbie got the call. I still didn’t believe it even when I woke up this morning, and then I saw the [Postcode Lottery team] on my street and it all became real.”
Debbie now has her sights set on a trip to the birthplace of the late singing sensation Elvis Presley to a celebrate a special birthday.
She said: “We could do almost anything now but I’m definitely going to do Graceland for my 60th next year – and I can do it all business class and everything.”
“I’ve loved Elvis all of my life. The guy in work also loves Elvis, so I can’t wait to tell him.
“We’ll have Elvis blaring in the office today.”
Debbie already has a multi-stop US road trip planned out. She said: “A few friends have been before, and I’ve always wanted to go. I’ll probably do New Orleans and then up to Nashville, then Memphis, Chicago.”
However, Keith has another lavish holiday in mind. He said: “We were looking at a yacht to hire in Majorca. We did see one, it was quite pricey, but now it’s going to happen.
“The yachting one is more for me than Debbie, I’m into that sort of thing.”
The pair might not know how they’ll spend all the winnings just yet but are both excited to treat their daughter, who is a fashion design student in London.
Keith said: “It’s all for her at the end of the day. We can invest for her and her future.
He added: “I keep on feeling like I’m going to wake up in a minute.”
Just a few houses along the road, Sarah Price, 45, and mother-in-law Rose Gray, 74, won a whopping £320,000 each.
Mum-of-five Rose is now set to travel in style to visit her eldest son in Australia.
Rose, a retired care home worker, said: “Oh my gosh. This kind of money means a lot. I can go and visit my son in Australia.
“I want to go business class not cattle class. It’ll be nice to go there direct without having to belt between three planes.
Rose is also now pondering turning left on the plane to experience a truly first-class journey.
She said: “I’ll get a lie down seat and could even have a shower on the plane now!
“My son usually buys my ticket, but I can do it myself now.”
The delighted duo, who live at the same address, were unaware that each other played the lottery until they both received phone calls to say they’d won a prize.
Rose said: “It was only when we both got calls that we actually found out we both played Postcode Lottery. It’s wonderful that we’ve both won.”
Lloyd, Sarah’s partner, and Rose’s son, has been given strict instructions for when he hears about their stunning winning sums.
Sarah said: “He couldn’t get off today, he works as a driver for DHL, and he made me promise that I’d phone him as soon as I knew anything, but I said, ‘you better stop your van first before I say anything.’
Sarah, who works as a dental nurse, is now thinking about buying a house and taking an exotic holiday.
She said: “We can definitely go on holiday and buy a house.
“I’d love to go to Mauritius or Thailand. You see it on telly and think you’ll never get to go to these really exotic places. I can now book the time of work and just go.”
Mum-of-one Sarah added: “I’m still lost for words, and I don’t know what to do with myself next, I’m supposed to be going back to work today but I don’t know now.”
Sarah and Rose were thrilled that some of neighbours had also won.
Rose said: “It’s wonderful! We were trying to work out who might have won so it’s lovely that a few others on the street have won.”
And with hundreds of others winning in Penarth, Sarah added: “It’s going to be a good place to be this weekend. It’ll be lively down the pier.”
Each of the winners mentioned they signed up to help charities, and a local good cause in Penarth has benefitted from money raised by Postcode Lottery players.
Forget-me-not Chorus (FMNC) received £25,000 last year to bring the joy of shared song to those living with and alongside dementia. Through four community choirs, 25 care home choirs and eight hospital choirs, it’s team of talented musicians reaches over 1,000 people a week.
