I splashed out on luxury hols when I won £1M EuroMillions jackpot… now I’m back to work long hours as an NHS midwife
A MUM who splashed out on a series of luxury holidays after she won a £1million EuroMillions jackpot prize is now back working as an NHS midwife.
Ruth Breen, 45, was on her lunch break in work at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan in 2014 when she checked her emails and discovered she had won £1million on the EuroMillions.
A decade on, the mother-of-one is still working for the NHS, although she has enjoyed splashing out on holidays to destinations such as Dubai, St Lucia and Mauritius.
She said: “An awful lot has changed in the past 10 years but then again, not so much.
“The win came at the most perfect time ever. It allowed me to reduce my working hours, giving me a much better work-life balance.
“I’m really lucky that I only work part-time. That’s enabled me to spend much more time with my daughter doing fun mum things instead of working flat out for a really, really busy service.
“We’ve had great holidays, but we’ve tried to keep our feet on the ground and I think working really helps me to do that.”
Ms Breen also wanted to continue working as an example to her daughter, who was 11 when she won.
She said: “The universe gifted me something incredible but you can’t take it for granted, not everybody’s that lucky.”
The community midwife now arrives at her visits in a BMW X3, saying the need for boot space prevented her from driving a sportier model, and her first purchase following the win was a pair of Jimmy Choos.
Ruth said: “I nearly cried when I was paying for them in Selfridges because I couldn’t believe I was actually able to purchase this and I had the money to do it.
“It was a little bit overwhelming.
“That collection’s a little bit bigger now, I don’t cry as much any more.”
Ruth still lives in the house she bought just before her win and says most of the new mothers she works with are unaware they are being looked after by a millionaire.
“I don’t introduce myself and say ‘oh by the way I won a million quid 10 years ago’, the vast majority of people haven’t got a clue and that’s the way I like it,” she said.
“I’m treated just like any other midwife by patients and staff.”
UK's biggest lottery winners
By Ethan Singh
- Anonymous winner – £195,707,000
A UK ticket-holder scooped the record EuroMillions jackpot of £195 million on July 19 2022 – the biggest National Lottery win of all time.
The holder, who remains anonymous to this day, amassed the fortune with just one lucky ticket.
- Joe and Jess Thwaite – £184,262,899.10
Britain’s previous EuroMillions record holders were Joe and Jess Thwaite.
The couple won a record-breaking £184million jackpot in May 2022 and shared hopes of a Hawaiian holiday and a new horse box for their children’s ponies.
Joe bought his winning ticket online on May 10, 2022, and the following morning received an email with good news.
As he learnt of the huge win, he was in disbelief and initially kept it for himself as he did not want to disturb his wife, who was sleeping.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two children.
- Colin and Chris Weir, £161,653,000
Colin and Christine Weir landed the colossal prize money in 2011 and were Europe’s second-biggest winners until someone in Italy won a jackpot worth £193m in 2019.
They splashed the cash at an astounding rate of £100,000 a week before tragedy struck.
But at the time of Colin’s death in December 2019 his share of the prize money had dwindled by around £40m.
He spent the millions living a life of luxury, forking out for sports cars, property and the football club he supported.
Colin and Christine divorced shortly before his death after being married for 38 years.
He left money for their children Carly and Jamie.
- Adrian and Gillian Brayford – £148,600,000
Adrian and Gillian won 190 million euros in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012, which came to just over £148 million.
But Adrian split from Gillian the following year because of the stress of the win.
The couple bought a Grade II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room, but it was sold in 2021.
After divorcing in 2013, he failed to woo ex-sausage factory worker Marta Jarosz — but fell for stable girl Sam Burbidge.
She left him in 2017, taking 30 prize horses Adrian bought.
It might have worked out in the end for Adrian though as the former postman was seen smiling with ambulance worker Tracey Biles last year.
- Frances and Patrick Connolly – £114,969,775
Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband hit the jackpot.
They scooped almost £115 million on New Year’s Day 2019.
She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.
- Richard and Debbie Nuttall – £61,000,000
The couple from Colne, Lancashire, took home £61 million on January 30 2024.
Both 54, they were enjoying a holiday in Fuerteventura, celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.
But they then discovered the big EuroMillions win.
Richard revealed they originally thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Other eye-watering anonymous winners:
- 2019 – £123million
Another anonymous winner scooped up a prize of £123,458,008 in the June Superdraw rollover.
- 2021 – £122million
Following nine rollovers, one ticketholder bagged the £122,550,350 jackpot last April.
The successful participant chose to remain anonymous.
- 2018 – £121million
Another anonymous winner found their fortune during the Superdraw jackpot rollover in April 2018, securing £121,328,187.
To mark the 10-year anniversary of her win, Ms Breen has been supporting charity The Baby Room, which provides essentials for new families in Wigan.
She said: “We all know there’s a cost-of-living crisis that’s been going on for quite some time and babies don’t come cheap.
“Not everybody is fortunate enough to be able to just go out and spend however much on all the equipment they’re going to need to make sure the baby’s got somewhere safe to sleep at night or that they’ve got sterilising equipment to make sure the bottles and teats they’re using, if they choose to bottle feed, are safe and clean.”
Alison Wakefield, who set up the baby bank in 2022 after having her youngest child, said: “Without our support we’d have babies that were sleeping on the floor, they wouldn’t have a safe space to sleep, we’d have them sleeping in drawers, we’d have babies using nappies more than once.
“It’s an essential service that is definitely needed. Without us people would be going without and babies would be going without.”