'Positivity' led to lottery win

A couple have said positive thinking helped them to win a lottery jackpot of more than £2 million.

Paul Kibler, 51, and his wife Marie, 64, from Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, have been revealed as the winners of last Wednesday's £2,194,776 Lotto jackpot.

Mr Kibler said he was watching the news on Wednesday evening waiting for the Lotto numbers to appear while his wife was settling down for bed upstairs. She had been trying to be more positive recently, and shouted down to her husband to win the lottery for her.

Mrs Kibler said: "I always remember a lady saying to me, think lucky and you will be lucky. That and trying to be more positive to deal with stress and worry has led me to make a real effort to look on the bright side.

"I just shouted down as I was laying there wishing Paul luck and fortune. He came very quietly up the stairs clutching his ticket. He thought he had six numbers but wasn't sure what he had won."

The couple checked online but could not work out how much they had won, and said they were stunned when they found out they were the only jackpot winner in the February 1 draw.

Mrs Kibler, a medical secretary, went on: "Paul thought it was about £50,000, I was thinking £2,000 and we were so stunned we couldn't work it out. We called Camelot but as the draw was so late they wouldn't have the full results until the morning.

"It wasn't until that call on Thursday, when they said, 'you've won the jackpot' that we knew. I just burst into tears."

Despite having a bank balance that many people can only dream of, Mr Kibler said he still hopes to return to his job as a gardener after having been forced to take leave for medical reasons. Mrs Kibler will take early retirement.