Heart attack survivor wins £300,000 on scratchcard and tells her children to house-hunt in Milan

From the Newshound archive · first published 1 October 2026 · last updated 2 October 2026.

Kate Daven-Thomas, 58, a florist from Minehead in Somerset, scooped £300,000 on a National Lottery Cashword Extra scratchcard after playing the same game every other day for years on a hunch she would win big. She survived a heart attack that forced her to leave her children behind in Italy, and now plans to use her winnings to help them onto the property ladder in Milan. She raced to her local supermarket at 9.50pm to verify the win — arriving just as staff were switching off the lottery machine.

Daven-Thomas called herself 'the unluckiest lucky person' — heart attack survivor turned £300,000 jackpot winner.

She whispered her win to a shopkeeper, begging her to switch the machine back on, terrified of closing time.

'La dolce vita — life has never been sweeter,' she said after spending last week house-hunting in Milan with her children.