A support worker who won more than £400,000 on the People’s Postcode Lottery has said she plans to have a tree for life planted at Dovestones Reservoir to honour her late children.
Rachel Lee, 33, from Dukinfield, Tameside, won more than £405,000 six years after the death of her twin boys, and now she is looking to give back in their memory.
Ms Lee and husband John, 37, broke down in tears after she won the largest share of a £1 million jackpot on the Postcode Lottery.
She became a paediatric nurse after suffering the loss of her baby boys and vowing to help other ill children.
Ms Lee said: “This just doesn’t happen to us. We’re used to picking up the phone to bad news.”
She won almost half of the lottery’s weekly Millionaire Street prize when her postcode in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, was announced as the winner on Saturday, February 17.
The couple lost their twin sons Reggie and Ronnie during childbirth in 2018 and Ms Lee’s life was also in danger after she contracted sepsis.
Now, they plan to put some of the major winnings towards honouring their twin boys with a tree for life at Dovestones.
Ms Lee said: “We want to get a tree for life planted at Dove Stone Reservoir. We’ve always wanted to do it but they’re expensive.”
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Discussing her sons, she said: “They sacrificed themselves for me. It’s heartbreaking that it happened, but in a way, I’m here to keep them alive.
“We got told that if I hadn’t given birth when I did, I would have had 24 hours to live and would have died as well.”
Ms Lee, who works as an NHS children’s complex needs support worker in Tameside and Glossop, said the winnings will allow her to pursue a job as a paediatric nurse.
She said: “I worked in a nursery for 13 years as an assistant manager and I’d had enough. I wanted to give back and do something with my career after everything I’ve been through.
“When I got the job with the NHS, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want to be a paediatric nurse and I want to look after poorly children.
“I can now do a Master’s nursing degree and make it happen.”
Ms Lee's husband, who works for a fire alarm company, said: “It has a lot to do with losing our twin boys and she’s always wanted to give something back. To work with kids like that and families like that.
“It’s taken a bit of time because it was still so close and tender. But just to see the change in Rachel since she’s worked there and been doing that. She’s a lot happier and now she can go and fulfil that properly.”
Along with the heart-breaking loss of their twins, Ms Lee's stepfather Mike had both his legs amputated after medical complications which has left him needing 24-hour care, and she now plans on buying him a mobility car.
Along with the tree for life at Dovestones, the couple plan to spend the money on a new house and a long-awaited honeymoon.
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