Builder had to convince poorly father he really had won £1m on lottery

A builder who won £1 million on the National Lottery had to convince his seriously ill father that he really had become a millionaire.

Sadly, Terry Gillings’ 85-year-old father died two days after hearing about the County Durham family’s life-changing win.

But Mr Gillings, 61, and wife Caroline, 54, were determined to enjoy their good fortune which they will share with their four daughters.

Mr Gillings, whose father had prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease, said: “I told dad we’d won a million and, true to character, his first words were ‘piss off, don’t lie to us!’

We decided pretty much straight away that we wanted the girls to benefit from our luck

Terry Gillings

“I like to think knowing Caroline and I, and the girls, were all well set up for the future meant he slipped away more peacefully.

“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.”

The couple will use their win to pay off their daughters’ mortgages, and Mr Gillings said: “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.

“We decided pretty much straight away that we wanted the girls to benefit from our luck.

“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.”

Mr 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.

The couple will also use money to support Breast Cancer Awareness after close family members were affected by the condition.

He said: “We’ve had our share of bad luck and hopefully by donating some of our win we can help other families to be luckier when it comes to this horrible disease.”

Mr and Mrs Gillings also plan to visit Indonesia to see the endangered Bali myna birds, which he breeds, and to visit Machu Picchu in Peru.

They won the Lotto game on March 26 with the numbers 14, 17, 18, 22, 34 and 58.