Valentine's Day Romance Leads to Million Pound Lottery Win
For one Surrey couple, Valentine's Day has proven to be more than just a celebration of love - it has become their personal lucky charm, culminating in a life-changing £1 million lottery win exactly 19 years after their first romantic encounter.
A Fateful First Date and a Fortuitous Find
Richard and Sally Thursby's extraordinary story began on February 14, 1994, when they had their inaugural date after being introduced by mutual friends. Sally, now 60, vividly recalls the nervous anticipation as she waited on her parents' driveway for Richard to collect her. The evening unfolded with dinner in London's Chinatown, where Richard's thoughtful gesture of presenting her with a rose left a lasting impression.
"I thought he was really nice," Sally remembers. "So I was over the moon when he asked me out on a date. He took me to London's Chinatown for dinner, I just remember thinking how polite he was."
Richard, now 62, admits he hadn't initially realized the significance of the date. "I hadn't really twigged it was Valentine's when I asked Sally on that first date," he confesses. "But it must have been Cupid at play because we've been together ever since."
The Lucky Penny That Changed Everything
The couple's remarkable fortune took an unexpected turn on February 14, 2015, exactly 19 years after their first meeting. While running errands, Sally discovered a single penny on the floor of a discount store. She picked it up, handed it to Richard with a laugh, and suggested it might bring them some luck.
That seemingly insignificant coin would become the catalyst for their million-pound windfall.
Richard had been treating Sally to a hairdresser appointment that day, and in return, Sally purchased a lottery ticket for him as a Valentine's gift. The ticket, bought with what they now call their "Valentine's luck," secured them the £1 million jackpot.
"We stopped at a discount store and she found a penny on the floor," Richard recalls. "She picked it up, 'here you go, it might give us a bit of luck' and she laughed. Little did we know how lucky."
Life-Changing Consequences and Family Focus
The substantial win enabled the Thursbys to fulfill a long-held promise to each other - they finally married, having vowed to do so if they ever won the lottery. The financial security also allowed them to upgrade to a larger home in Virginia Water, Surrey, providing their three children with individual bedrooms.
Sally, a retired carer who continued working with elderly individuals during lockdown periods, emphasizes how the timing of their win proved particularly fortuitous. In 2019, Richard suffered a serious medical emergency - a bleed on the brain that required two weeks in intensive care followed by extensive rehabilitation.
"It was unimaginably stressful," Sally admits. "But I don't know how we could have coped with that stress, and the months of rehabilitation afterwards without our lucky Valentine win."
The couple's priorities have remained firmly centered on family throughout their journey. "Family has always meant the most to us so winning was always about helping them too," Sally explains. "Now our home is filled with grandchildren."
A Cherished Symbol of Extraordinary Fortune
Today, that fateful penny rests in a ring box alongside Sally's jewellery, serving as a tangible reminder of their incredible stroke of luck. "It may only be worth 1p but to us it's worth £1,000,000," she reflects with evident emotion.
The Thursbys continue to commemorate February 14th as their special anniversary - not only as the day they fell in love, but as the day that transformed their lives financially. "Not only did we have our first date on Valentine's Day, we bought a winning Lotto ticket on the same day, 19 years later," Sally marvels. "It is literally a life-changing anniversary."
Richard, who worked as a joiner from age 16 and continued even after their lottery success, and Sally now enjoy retirement surrounded by their growing family, their Valentine's Day legacy forever intertwined with extraordinary fortune and enduring love.
