Man died in freak accident before finding out about share of £7.9m lottery win

One man tragically died in a freak accident just before finding out about his multi-million lottery earnings.

Grandad, Andrew Gillion, had been playing the postcode lottery for years and his persistence eventually paid off after he won a share of a staggering £7.9 million.

The family of the 'good friend to so many' have since come forward to speak about Andrew's story.

Mirrorpix

The 59-year-old entered the lottery draw hoping to score some cash to take his family on holiday but everything changed when Andrew suffered a serious fall.

He tragically passed away after spending some time at a friend's house on New Year's Day after falling down the stairs.

Andrew was immediately rushed to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow after breaking his neck in the accident.

He underwent an operation some days after as doctors attempted to relieve some pressure off the break yet was sadly pronounced dead at the hospital 7 January, 2022 during the surgery.

His family have since been left distraught by the news with his daughter, Lisa Thomas, 32, explaining just how devastated they all are and how they are still finding it difficult coming to terms with what happened.

When she discovered that her late father had been sent one of the golden envelopes, along with his other neighbours on Shaw Crescent, Wishaw, she was totally overcome with emotion.

ACORN 1

Despite his passing, Andrew has still been counted as one of the winners of Scotland's biggest single Postcode Lottery Jackpot.

The mum-of-three told the Daily Record: "I found out dad had won via his friend and neighbour.

"I thought there was no way he could have as I had blocked his bank account, so I presumed no payments would have been taken."

Lisa said that Andrew had played the postcode lottery for 'as many years as I can remember'.

"When I got it confirmed," she recalled, "I felt absolutely devastated at first."

Imagining what it would have been like if her dad were still alive, she said: "I could just hear the excited phone call from him telling me he had won and I know his first thought would be to book us all a holiday."

Lisa added that while she 'still feels sad' that her dad is no longer around to 'enjoy' his winnings, she also feels some sense of 'excitement'.

People's Postcode Lottery

She said: "I also feel some excitement for him and I'm sure he has had something to do with this.

"There's been so many 'signs' since he left us and I'm certain he is watching saying 'I told you so'."

Remembering their memories together, Lisa recalled 'laughing' with Andrew one Christmas because the first card he received for the holidays was from the Postcode Lottery.

"All I remember him saying is, 'well you won't be laughing when I win!' and he was right I wasn't laughing, I was crying," she revealed.

Andrew received a staggering £8,092 share of the £7.9 million jackpot that was split between all the victors who lived on the same street as him.