A dad-of-three has pledged to buy his grandmother a new stairlift after betting £1.40 on
a spin in an online 💵 game and scooping £5.4m.
Michael Clark and his fiancée Sherelle
Pooley said they are "on cloud nine" after winning the biggest 💵 pay-out in Betfred's
56-year history.
Mr Clark, 32, said he is planning to buy his grandmother a stairlift
so she can 💵 stay in her home, and will be buying a new engagement ring for Miss Pooley,
27.
He said: "I just couldn’t 💵 believe that I’d actually won so much.
“We thought it
must have been a mistake at first, and then we started 💵 hugging each other when we
realised it was real. I just couldn’t stop crying, and there was no way I 💵 was going to
go to sleep that night having won such an enormous amount of money.
“Now we can easily
afford 💵 to get married and buy our forever home in the countryside. Six bedrooms will do
very nicely indeed."
The pair, who 💵 were born and brought up in Walker, in Newcastle,
are also planning to buy two season tickets for Newcastle United 💵 and a possible
honeymoon in Jamaica.
Michael Clark and Sherelle Poolley are thinking about having
their wedding reception at St James' 💵 Park and going on honeymoon to Jamaica. Credit:
Betfred
Mr Clark, who worked on minimum wage terms at a mental health 💵 unit, and Miss
Pooley, who also works as a carer for her grandmother, said they had already shared
some of 💵 their good fortune when they met a rough sleeper in Newcastle city centre near
the hotel they are now living 💵 in.
After getting chatting when he asked Mr Clark for a
cigarette, he paid for him to spend the night in 💵 a hotel.
Mr Clark said: “I absolutely
loved my job helping people in the mental health unit where there are people 💵 of all
ages, but the boss understood when I explained I would have to leave for a bit with all
💵 this going on. Sherelle’s told her grandmother not to worry, she’ll still look after
her doing all the shopping and 💵 everything else.
“Season tickets for us both at
Newcastle United are definitely on our wish list, or maybe even a match 💵 day box for
we’re true Geordies and the team under Eddie Howe are doing very well at the
moment.
“We’ve been 💵 engaged for seven years, and we’ll be replacing Sherelle’s
engagement ring and getting something a lot more expensive than the 💵 £1,000 we spent in
2024. I might even buy myself a posh new watch. Everyone’s calling me ‘Micky Millions’
now!
“It 💵 would be brilliant to have our wedding reception at St. James’ Park. The
honeymoon will probably be in the Caribbean 💵 – maybe Jamaica – and we’ll be travelling
first class. Sherelle has never been on a plane so we're already 💵 sorting out a passport
for her."
Miss Pooley added: "I am just so happy for Michael, me and the whole family.
💵 It's totally overwhelming. We are so lucky to have a new and better life ahead of
us."
Mr Clark said he 💵 was trying to come to terms with winning so much money.
He said:
"We are determined to stay grounded and not 💵 go too crazy… although we’re also
determined to enjoy life to the fullest.
“I’m getting a bit of a taste for 💵 champagne
now, but I still like a pint of dog which is what us Geordies call Newcastle
Brown.
“The kids think 💵 they’re on an adventure and like us just can’t get a grip on
what has happened.
"We’re just two very lucky 💵 people who were brought up on a council
estate and went to comprehensive school, but have always tried to be 💵 kind to others…
and now we are rich beyond our dreams.”
It was one of the biggest news stories of our
💵 time - and it's still not over. So what did Boris Johnson know about Downing Street’s
notorious parties? With fresh 💵 revelations from our Number 10 sources, in their own
words, listen to the inside story...
