Mum promises to buy home for son with Down's Syndrome after £500,000 lottery win
Natasha Fludder, 31, scooped the life-changing jackpot after she matched all five numbers on a Thunderball ticket she bought in Tesco for the December 7 draw
Ashley Franklin
Natasha Fludder has vowed to get on the property ladder following her win (Image: Camelot)
An ecstatic mum says she is going to spend some of her £500,000 lottery winnings to buy a home for her son with Down's Syndrome.
Natasha Fludder, 31, matched all five numbers on a Thunderball lottery ticket that she bought in Tesco for the December 7 draw.
The overjoyed mum-of-two couldn't believe her luck after realising that she had also picked the correct Thunderball jackpot number - meaning she scooped the half million quid jackpot.
She told LincolnshireLive : "My eldest son wouldn't go to sleep so I thought I'd check my phone for the Thunderball numbers whilst he dosed off.
"I always choose random numbers, but have number 12 as my Thunderball as it's my birthday. For some reason for this draw I marked down on the play slip four twenty-something numbers plus 15.
Natasha scooped £500,000 in a Thunderball draw earlier this year (Image: Camelot)
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"Looking at my phone I noticed I had matched 26 and with my 12 I had won a fiver. Then I saw I had actually matched four numbers which was £100 and thought that's great.
"Then I noticed number 15 meaning I had won £5,000. I was at this point praying I was right and had won £5,000 when I remembered my Thunderball was 12, the number I always have and it was the jackpot."
Natasha, who lives in Skegness, Lincolnshire, couldn't believe it was true to begin with and asked her sister to check her numbers.
Ms Fludder said: "I quickly phoned my sister because I wanted her to check the numbers for me. She didn't answer.
"I then messaged her via text and through Facebook with a screen shot of my ticket and one of the Thunderball draw on YouTube but nothing.
"I desperately needed someone to check the numbers and confirm it was all true."
Natasha even tried to contact her mum, but received no response.
Instead, she used the National Lottery App on her phone which confirmed that she had a winning ticket.
She said: "I scanned the ticket and it said 'congratulations'.
"Mum called back and said she'd checked too and said 'If those are your numbers and it's for the draw on Saturday, December 7, then yes, I think you have won the jackpot.
"I don't even think she realised it was £500,000, she was very calm about it all."
Natasha could not believe she had won the lottery
After seeing all of her messages, Natasha's sister assumed something was wrong but was "happy and shocked" when she heard the good news.
Natasha added: "I then spent a restless night thinking if it was real and what I'd do with half a million pounds. I waited until the Sunday morning to call Camelot to see if I'd won and they said yes!"
Natasha is still figuring out how to spend the winnings - but she is determined to leave the home she rents and get on the property ladder.
She said: "After living in rented accommodation all the boys' life, the first thing I'll do is buy a home. I've already been looking through estate agent windows.
"My eldest son has Down's Syndrome and to have our own place will be just great for him. He also has a fair amount of specialist equipment which needs a lot of space.
"Apart from that I haven't decided, but obviously Christmas will be extra special for all the family with lots of treats for everyone."
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