Taxi driver from Cambridgeshire wins EuroMillions because he forgot his son’s birthdayForgetting a loved one's birthday is normally a recipe for disaster.
But not for taxi driver Murray McKenzie, who scooped £215,000 on the EuroMillions because he got his son's birthday wrong.
Murray, 63, chose one of his numbers because it forms part of his son Thomas' date of birth – but he was one day out.
The "slightly sheepish" Murray, who lives in Linton, said: "It's a bit embarrassing to admit that I had the wrong date for my son's birthday but with £215,228.30 now in the family coffers, I think he's prepared to forgive me.
"I had been playing those numbers on and off for years but hadn't used them for a few months as I was choosing 'lucky dips' on the occasions I did play. I still do not know why at 8am last Tuesday I thought playing them was a good idea. I'm going to put it down to Lady Luck."
Both Murray and his wife of 43 years Pat, a part-time hairdresser, are around retirement age, but say they will carry on working.
Murray, who picks up passengers in Cambridge and the surrounding villages, said he does not want to give up his taxi job because he enjoys meeting people and chatting, but will be taking his "foot off the pedal" by doing less hours.
And there will be no big purchases yet.
Former Linton Village College pupil Murray, who has two children called Thomas, 33, and Katie Lindsell, 40, said the win "really means the world to us".
He said: "It's not because we want to buy fast cars or move to a bigger house, we are very content with what we have, but it's going to give us so much freedom and peace of mind. With two children, four grandchildren and another on the way, being able to work a little less and spend more time with them is going to be amazing."
Recalling the night when he discovered his win, Murray said he realised he had a ticket from the previous night's draw while watching The National Lottery.
The former mechanic checked his ticket and noticed he had matched five main numbers and a lucky star.
He said: "When I saw that five numbers had matched I checked and double-checked, and believing it was the wine making me fuzzy headed, I actually smacked the top of my head to make sure I wasn't seeing things."
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