Panic attacks sufferer to spend Lottery jackpot on children

A woman who struggles to leave her home because of panic attacks will spend much of her £4.5 million National Lottery fortune on her children, she revealed today.

Pauline Stanley, 59, who can visit nearby relatives with help, will not spend the jackpot on an exotic holiday as she does not fly and prefers gardening at home.

Mrs Stanley, who lives in Churchdown, near Gloucester, with husband Barry, 61, even cheated death earlier this year after suffering burst stomach ulcers.

The housewife said today that she was happy "in my own little world" and was not worried by the windfall, which she will use to help out her four children and two stepchildren.

Describing the moment the win sank in, Mrs Stanley said today: "I was watching the lottery and I wrote the numbers down on to a notepad. I was just sat here, and I hadn't checked the ticket at the time.

"Barry was on the computer and he came over and said 'I take it you haven't won the lottery?'.

"I said 'I haven't checked the ticket yet', and I looked at the ironing and thought 'I'll do my ironing and watch Casualty'.

"As I stood up I thought 'I will go and check', and that was it. My ironing didn't get done!"

The grandmother of six added: "I rang my daughter in a right state - she thought I was being rushed back into hospital.

"I said to Barry I'd won, but he wouldn't believe me. He said 'Are you sure you've got the right numbers?"'

Camelot confirmed that Mr and Mrs Stanley, who have been married for 21 years, were the sole winners of the £4,599,128 prize.

Mrs Stanley bought three lines for that week's draw and the first came up trumps.

But their celebrations were very modest.

Mrs Stanley, who has three adult children from a previous marriage and a fourth with her husband, had a "strong coffee with sugar".

Mr Stanley, who has two daughters from an earlier marriage, indulged in a Scotch.

Mr Stanley, an aviation engineer, said: "We haven't really celebrated as such - we had a takeaway from Kentucky (Fried Chicken) last night."

Mrs Stanley's win marked a huge change in her fortunes, after she spent five days in hospital in February being treated for burst stomach ulcers.

She said: "I could have lost my life."

Her husband added: "The doctor said if the ambulance had been five minutes slower, she wouldn't have made it, basically. There was incredible loss of blood."

Describing the incident, Mrs Stanley said: "I had a bath and I felt fine. I had had my bath, washed my hair. My brother came in and said 'Are you all right?'

"He said 'You look terrible'. I said 'I feel all right' then all of a sudden I felt like I had drained. I said 'I can't stand up'.

"I'm on tablets and I will be for the rest of my life. I have good days and I have bad days."

Her problem with going out in public has affected her for 10 years, since the death of her father, she revealed.

She said: "I'm supposed to be seeing the doctor but until I feel well enough in myself and can cope with that sort of thing I won't be doing it.

"If I go out in the car, as soon as we pull off the drive I've got to use my inhaler, that's how bad it is. They will pick me up in the car and I'll go to my daughter's.

"When I feel fed up with myself because I am indoors, one of them will take me out, and I'll just do it slowly. I shall go into counselling, but I can't face counselling at the moment.

Asked if she went to many other places, apart from relatives houses, she said: "No."

But she is a keen gardener, and loves to spend time there alongside Tyson, the couple's 12-stone American bulldog.

She went on: "You can't explain to anybody, unless they have gone through it. You are in your own little world. But I'm happy in that little world. All the others are so excited - 'Oh, I'll have this...'

"I'm not worried, I've got my house. It's all I want."

Asked what she would spend the money on, she said immediately: "The family.

"I know they are all struggling and I can see them all right and that will make me happy.

"I do worry about the family. There's lots I will do for them."

Daughter Sharon, 40, who was supporting her mother at the three-bedroom semi-detached house today, said: "You couldn't ask for a better grandparent."

Mr Stanley said he was thinking about buying a new car for himself, but was not bothered about going abroad as he had seen plenty of the world when he worked for British Airways.

The couple might consider moving house but would never leave the Churchdown area. They may even build a conservatory or fit new carpets to their current home.

He plans to retire in the summer and "play a bit more golf".

The secret of their marriage was that "we don't have any conflicts", he added.

The Stanleys won the jackpot in Saturday night's draw with the winning numbers 30, 29, 28, 06, 47 and 15.