A three-time cancer survivor and a great-grandfather recently won a prize in the People’s Postcode Lottery.

80 year old Bill Puffett was announced as the winner of £60,000 on Christmas Eve and he said that he almost fainted when he got the check on his doorstep.

He revealed that one night after they had gotten the news of the win, his wife Linda, who was employed as a senior care worker, decided to retire from her job.

The plans

Mr. Puffett said that his wife worked for 12 hours, four days a week and before finding out about the win, he had been wishing for something to happen so Linda could retire.

According to reports, the couple are now planning on using the winnings for treating their family and doing some house renovations.

Hailing from East Sussex, there were three separate occasions when Mr. Puffett was diagnosed with cancer.

Cancer diagnoses

He had first been diagnosed with melanoma and underwent treatment for several years, until a big chunk of skin had to be removed from his shoulder.

Later on, he had been passing blood, which prompted his wife to take him to the A&E where he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The octogenarian said that since the doctor had caught it early, he underwent intense radiotherapy every day until they got rid of the cancer.

Two years after he had managed to overcome prostate cancer, Mr. Puffett was diagnosed with bowel cancer by his doctors in March 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic was just beginning.

The operation for treating it had proven to be a success, but he had remained in pain for weeks. He said that he was finally free, but he couldn’t say that it would not return because that was always a possibility.

The lottery win

When speaking about the lottery win, the cancer survivor said that after everything he had been through due to his health, it had seemed like the icing on the cake.

He said that he had considered himself lucky when he managed to beat cancer the third time, but he had nearly fainted when he heard about the £60,000 win.

He said that he had been shaking and not because of the cold, but the feeling could not be described. He added that it did not feel real to have so much money in his hand.

He added that he would celebrate with his family and would get everyone together for a Christmas meal.

There was another winner on the same street, who won a prize of £30,000, but opted to remain anonymous.

The National Lottery spokesperson said that they had a great time in surprising Bill and he had certainly given a lovely reaction.

The spokesperson congratulated both the winners in Bishopstone and hoped that they would have a great time in using their cash.