Terry Billings, 46,was £14,000 in debt
A man who was £14k in debt and praying for a miracle from his late mum won £100k on the lottery just days later. Terry Billings, 46, had always played the lottery with his brother, Danny, 49, and their mum, Patricia, until she sadly died following a battle with bladder cancer in March 2020.
Devastated Terry vowed to keep his mum’s ‘dying wish’ alive by continuing to play weekly using their identical numbers. These included his mum’s birth year (46), her favourite number (six), his son’s birthday and his mum’s birthday (22), his own birthday (16), and his daughter’s birthday (29).
“You just do not believe something like that could happen,” the dad-of-two from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, said. “The week before the lottery win, I looked up to the sky and I told her how much I missed her and my struggles with debt.
“Two days later, I got the email to say I’d netted £100k.”
It was after Patricia was diagnosed with bladder cancer that she and Terry decided to switch to the Health Lottery. Following Patricia’s death in March 2020, Terry continued to play – even when he fell on hard times.
Terry said: “My mum’s dying wish was for me to carry on playing her numbers. I set up a direct debit with the Health Lottery because of the charitable causes.”
He then continued: “Over the past year or so, my self-employed work was quite sporadic, and I got into debt with credit cards. It was close to £14,000 – it had built and built.
“It was a combination of everything. You end up overdrawn with bills to pay when you’re self-employed and work isn’t coming in.” But days later, after praying to his mum, Terry’s life took a turn for the better, allowing him to save some money for his children.
He received an email informing him that he had won £100k on the health lottery as all five numbers matched. “It was my son’s ninth birthday on June 22 that we got the email that I’d won the lottery,” Terry continued.
“Most bizarre and very overwhelming, I had to wait until Monday morning to ring them, and I was going through the automated line, and they did some security checks, and then they confirmed the win.
“They invited me to the headquarters for some champagne and put me up in a hotel. The money was in my account a few days later. I’ve paid my debts and put some money away in premium bonds for my children.”
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