Geordie and Betty Rhodick won £1,000,000 on the Euromillions
Former soldier Geordie Rhodick threw his Euromillions ticket in the waste after a quick check of his numbers revealed he had won nothing in the main draw.
But his wife Betty fished it out and took it to their local shop - to be told they had struck it lucky in the Millionaire Maker raffle.
After discovering he had landed a seven-figure windfall, the army veteran had no thoughts of immediately spending his fortune.
Instead, he spent two days at his local Co-op - selling raffle tickets for the local Armed Forces Day committee he chairs.
The first thing the big-hearted veteran is planning to spend his cash on is a surprise trip for his 85-year-old mother-in-law, and each of his six children can look forward to receiving £25,000.
He served with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders infantry regiment between 1967 and 1981 and retired from his position as a domestic supervisor at a local hospital last year.
The 71-year-old, from Lochgilphead, Argyll, bought the ticket from McColl's in his hometown on Friday May 29 and the couple discovered they had won £1,000,000 the following Wednesday.
Mr Rhodick said: "I buy four tickets a week - two on Tuesday and two on Friday - so it's really been a long time coming. It's all been so surreal.
"If people think that this money is going to change us then they don't know us at all. It's good security for us and our family.
"Each of our six kids is getting £25,000 and they can pay off any debts they have or go on holiday but once they've had that then they're not getting any more from us.
"I love my gardening since I've retired and we're looking at some new houses in the area and it looks like I might have to get a sit on mower looking at the size of it.
"We're staying in the town - it's nice and quiet here and there's never any trouble. This is home."
McColl's, LochgilpheadHEMEDIA
The shop where the winning ticket was bought
It's been so surreal but I don't see why because we've got money now that we'll change.
Betty Rhodick
Mrs Rhodick handed in her notice for her job as a carer at Enable Scotland, an organisation for people with learning disabilities, on Monday - five days after they discovered they had won.
She said: "We were having a bit of an argument just before I fished the tickets out of the recycling bin. He was complaining that he was skint to me so I decided to go check all of our tickets.
"I went to the shop where we usually buy our tickets. The manager of the shop checked them and had turned visibly white and was visibly shaken. He told me that I'd need to take a seat.
"The girl behind the corner then shouted over to us that I'd won £25 which was great but then the manager told me that he felt I'd also won a million and that I needed to check with Camelot.
"When I got home I gave my husband the £25 and said 'there you go, you're not skint any more' then told him to check with Camelot because we've won a million.
"It's been so surreal but I don't see why because we've got money now that we'll change. We're not the type to go splashing money around the town."
The couple are keeping busy organising the Lochgilphead Armed Forces Day, on Saturday, June 20.
The 63-year-old is committee secretary and vice-convener of the town's community council.
The couple's oldest grandchild, Stacey Rhodick, 21, said: "They have done so much for everybody, in their own family and in the local community, they really deserve it. I know they won't change."
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