Balloch Millionaire Street

FIFTEEN neighbours living on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond are celebrating after winning a £1m People's Postcode Lottery prize.

The street pals, of Balloch, Dunbartonshire, whooped through a downpour as they were each presented with a cheque for £66,666.

And one player, Tommy Gilmour, told us how his win has come after he cheated death twice in the last 14 months.

In October 2023, doctors had to revive the grandad and then put him into an induced coma after minor surgery went wrong.

And last December the retired senior ranger with Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park was seriously injured after he was knocked down by a bus.

Clutching his prize with his left arm still in a sling, Tommy said: "Now this has happened. Wow! Go on, ya dancer. I can't believe it.

"This is tremendous, we weren't expecting that amount of money. And it's nice to win with so many others in the street."

Tommy celebrated with 14 other neighbours in Balloch after G83 8SY won our weekly £1m Millionaire Street prize today. Every ticket was worth £66,666.

Tommy, who shares three children and five grandchildren with his wife Maureen, told us how his new fortune will help him look to the future after the string of near-tragedies.

The amateur sailor was left with a fractured knee and shattered left wrist after he was struck by a single-decker bus on 3 December.

He revealed that a metal-strapped Citizen Eco-Drive Red Arrows watch gifted to him by his son on his 60th birthday bore the brunt of the collision and prevented his arm from being ripped off.

Tommy - who now wears the watch on his other wrist - said: "I had an argument with a bus. I was knocked down. I was crossing a street and nothing was coming in any direction. I crossed over and I was halfway over the double lane on the other side. I just happened to look and a single-decker bus was on top of me.

"I flew through the air and landed on a kerb. I did judo when I was younger and I did a break fall. As I was flying through the air, I knew that if I had hit a pole I would have been dead.

"I remember crossing the road, seeing the bus and trying and trying to get back off the road."

Tommy was hit full-on by the bus, leaving the windscreen smashed, but he had tried to deflect the blow with his watch arm.

He said: "The only thing that saved my hand from coming off was the watch my son gave me for my 60th birthday. They say it will take at least six months to heal.

"No one could believe that I walked away from it."

Sturdy Tommy added: "My build saved me. I've kept fit all my days."

The grandad was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery to have a titanium plate put in his wrist.

He said: "I didn't know the bus driver, but I knew the ambulance driver and one of the traffic policemen.

"When I got to the hospital, I was feeling a bit shattered and broken, and the shock had set in.

"They put a small titanium plate in my wrist. One of the team came to visit me the next day after the operation and says, 'There's a spare one, it costs £600 - get that on a keyring', which I have done."

He added: "It's all history now. When I get this knee and hand fixed, I will be cock-a-hoop."

But Tommy also had to be brought back from the dead by doctors just 14 months before the accident - after an operation to remove small glands from his neck went wrong.

He said: "I went in for a simple operation, and when I was on the operating table, they put a tube down my throat, and I suffocated. I was gone.

"They spent three hours reviving me and then put me into an induced coma for ten hours. When I woke up, all the family were there, and I said, 'What are you guys all doing here?'"

He added: "I've also broken my back and wrist playing rugby. Hopefully now this is the start of something good."

And he joked that his wife Maureen is terrified of what might happen to him next.

He said: "She's ordered some bubble wrap from Amazon."

Now the couple is planning to spend their winnings on a new car, a holiday, and helping their family.

Tommy said: "My BMW out there is an M Sport with gear change. We've been talking for a while about getting another car and would like to change it to an automatic.

"There'll be a wee holiday and ..." he looks at his son and laughs, "... maybe something for the family."

Retired bank customer services worker Maureen added: "I'd like a Greek island or Turkey. Somewhere like that, not anything too far away."

Across the road, Aileen Suter said her £66,666 winnings will go straight into her 'fun fund' - and she'll now complete her and her late husband Tommy's bucket list.

The grateful great-gran will go on an Australasia adventure, dance the night away at Glastonbury, and spoil her family, but she admitted it's bittersweet without her 'soulmate' by her side.

Aileen, a retired speech and language therapist, said: "It's a phenomenal amount. I still can't believe it.

"I've got a fun fund. But my fun funds are kind of going down and down. So, this is going right into the fun fund.

"Tommy and I had always talked about going to Australia. I've always wanted to go and see the Great Barrier Reef and visit French Polynesia.

"So, the two of them are definitely going to get ticked off the bucket list."

Aileen tragically lost her husband of 41 years in January last year.

She said: "Tommy literally retired in September, and he passed away in the January.

"It was horrendous. He had cancer and got the diagnosis less than a year before he was due to retire."

Aileen, who met Tommy when she was 17, still feels as if Tommy is watching over her and their family.

She said: "He was my soulmate. He was just fabulous. I do always feel as though I've got somebody looking out for me, somebody's got my back ... he's always with me."

Aileen, who retired less than two years ago and has a son and daughter, four grandchildren, and a great-grandchild, isn't planning on slowing down.

She said: "We went to Cyprus a couple of years ago for a family wedding, and I did a wee bit of scuba diving, which I loved!

"So, I'm thinking, I'd like to do that again. And where better than the Great Barrier Reef?

"I watched that Susan Calman travel TV show, and she went to French Polynesia. That's another place which would be amazing for it.

"I've always wanted to do the North Coast 500 ever since the whole family did the West Highland Way for Tommy's 60th birthday."

Along with scuba diving and driving the winding seaside roads of North Scotland, Aileen also has plans to tick off the Glastonbury festival.

Aileen said: "Tommy and I had always talked about Glastonbury. We always did T in the Park at Balado, in Kinross. We did that year after year and loved it."

Before Aileen sets off on her bucket list travels, she wants to treat her 'fabulous' family, who have supported her in the last few 'horrible' years.

She said: "I know that everybody says their family are the best, but my family are the best. I can share this with them.

"When Tommy wasn't well and when he passed away, my kids said, 'Just phone anytime, Mum. Anytime you feel down, just pick up the phone.'

"They've just been a fabulous support. I've got a wonderful sister - sister-in-law actually - but I call her my sister, and their family are great as well."

Aileen's also eyeing up revisiting her and Tommy's holiday spots from years gone by.

She said: "Tommy and I used to holiday in Torquay, so I'd love to get right down to Newquay.

"And I've also booked Sa Coma in Majorca, which was our first holiday with the kids, and that was their first holiday abroad.

"Once I'm back from Glastonbury then I'm going to this Hotel Sa Coma on my own. It'll be quite nostalgic and I'll just go between the pool and the beach.

"Now I'll have that wee bit more spending money."

Aileen was delighted that so many neighbours had won. She said: "It's fabulous that 15 people have won it ... the same amount and everything. I'm so happy that they've won because they are all lovely people."

"It's always been a great wee street, but it's an even greater street now!"

Along the road, Catherine Curran was dreaming of buying a camper van after husband Paul bagged £66,666.

Submariner Paul reached the rank of warrant officer when he left active service after 34 years and now teaches Naval recruits at nearby Faslane.

Paul - who shares two children and two grandchildren with Catherine - said: "We've got a couple of things planned for the house and want to buy a camper van and go round the country."

Retired arts therapist Catherine said: "It's something we've always had a notion to do and looked at it last year. We've always travelled abroad and now it's time to look at places closer to home."

She added: "We're delighted for everyone, absolutely delighted. We've had bubbly in the fridge since yesterday."

Just ten doors along, Catherine's younger brother Alex Gillies was also joining in the party when his recently retired wife Kay landed the same prize.

Now the couple - who have two children - is planning a dream trip back to South Africa where they both used to live, as well as ploughing ahead with a planned downstairs loo extension.

Part-time golf caddy Alex said: "When I used to live in South Africa, I went to the Million Dollar Challenge golf tournament in Sun City. I would like to go back and watch that. We should be able to do that now.

"We both play golf. I used to be a +2 handicap."

Former bank worker Kay laughed: "It's a fabulous place, so I'll be happy to go along."

She added: "It'll mean more holidays and helping family."

Winner Robin Crawford's wife breathed a sigh of relief when he pocketed £66,666 after ignoring her calls to cancel his Postcode Lottery subscription.

Fiona said: "I said to stop doing it because there was no chance of us getting it. But he didn't, thank goodness."

The couple, who share four children and eight grandchildren, plan to head off into the sunset in a new caravan after their win with aptly-named pet Cocker Spaniel Penny.

Retired support worker Fiona said: "I had a dream that there were lots of red vans driving round the street. Then I saw everyone in red jackets this morning. We're absolutely delighted.

Retired lorry driver Robin said: "I bought a new set of Cobra golf clubs five weeks ago. I ordered them before I knew I had won this.

"My car is 15 years old, and I was going to change it sometime this year anyway."

Fiona added: "We've got an old caravan and we love it. We might upgrade it, maybe not get a brand new one.

"We really like the east of Scotland and the Fife coast. But we'll be going a bit further."

Supporting Good Causes

Today's prize is part of a draw promoted on behalf of Postcode Planet Trust. Supported by our players, this trust delivers grant funding to organisations that work to protect and promote our environment and wildlife. Benefitting charities include WWF-UK, Marine Conservation Society and The Wildlife Trusts.

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