I must admit, as much as I enjoy my job at UNILAD Towers, if I was handed a cheque for £1 million this evening I wouldn’t pause to shut down my laptop.
But luckily for the long-term sustainability of the global economy, there are plenty of people out there who have a far better work ethic than myself. Even at Christmastime, the great holiday of laziness.
And there is probably no-one out there with a bigger commitment to work than 36-year-old Didzis Pirags: a chef who won £1 million on a scratchcard and still turned up for his Christmas Day shift.
Pirags, a Latvian national, won the life changing sum of money online just four days before the most magical day of the year. He’d been on his lunch break at the time, and decided to play an online National Lottery game.
Amazingly, rather than jet straight off to the Caribbean with a cocktail in hand, Pirags decided to finish out his Christmas shifts; showing incredible decency towards both his colleagues and the hungry pub patrons.
According to BBC News, Pirags said:
The first thing I scratched off said £1m – the nanny was there and I said ‘could you look at it please, I can’t believe it, is that £1m?’
I literally ran downstairs and said to my boss ‘look, look it’s £1m, isn’t it? She said ‘yeah, it is £1m’ and I rang the number and they confirmed it.
Single dad Didzis, who moved to the UK nine years ago, has described the incredible win as being, ‘the best dream come true ever at Christmas time’. And he’s now looking towards giving his son the best possible start in life.
Following his amazing windfall, the hardworking chef has purchased a four-bedroom house with his winnings and gifted his son some headphones as a Christmas treat. The pair had previously lived in a flat above the pub itself.
And – showing miraculous levels of restraint – Pirags has since explained how he wants to let his good luck ‘soak in’ first before splashing out on further luxuries.
Practical Pirags said:
All I want is to be able to provide the best possible life for my son and this win will enable me to do exactly this.
Didzis had previously been working 60 hours a week at the pub and is now looking forward to spending some well-earned quality time with his son. What an absolute belter of a dad. Congratulations!
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.