As the UK’s dog lovers celebrate the canine world’s finest pooches at Crufts (5-8 March) a couple from Havant, who thanked their dog for their £1M National Lottery Scratchcard win, are now celebrating his return to full health.
Thanks to their amazing National Lottery win Patrick (61) and Paula (55) Morling were able to repay the favour and use some of their new-found fortune to pay for expensive veterinary care which saved Ollie’s life!
The life-changing, and ultimately life-saving, adventure began in November 2018 when Patrick visited a different supermarket to buy picky eater Ollie’s favourite food. While there, he bought the scratchcard which would change their life, and save Ollie’s. Patrick said,
“Ollie means the world to us, he’s a big lovable Spaniel Staffy cross who is as nutty as a box of frogs and makes us smile every single day. We gave him a home when he was just a four-month-old pup, and he’s given us 10 years of fun, laughter and love, he is definitely one of the family.”
Being one of the family, naturally Ollie joined Patrick and Paula on one of their first holidays after their £1M win and it was on this trip he was suddenly taken ill. Patrick said,
“The win has meant we are suddenly able to start enjoying life a lot more, and this includes booking lots of lovely holidays, but we always go on our annual Easter break to Cornwall. Last April, after the long drive down, we settled in for two weeks of fun by the sea but a couple of days in Ollie became unwell.
“Being the silly dog he is, we initially put it down to him being over excited and drinking too much salty seawater on Perranporth Beach – it’s happened before! However, when he still wasn’t right the next day, we decided a trip to the vets was in order just so they could give him something to settle his tummy. Little did we know what was coming next.”
Patrick continued, “The vet examined Ollie and immediately voiced concern about the lump on his side, a lump we had never felt or seen before. Instead of heading back to the caravan with Ollie and some medicine, our lovely dog was whisked off for emergency surgery.”
Following a stressful wait, the vet called the couple to let them know Ollie had a huge cancerous growth removed from his intestines and required ongoing emergency veterinary care, plus a more detailed scan to check that all the mass had been removed. In shock Patrick and Paula waited until Ollie was well enough to travel and thankfully by the end of the week were able to return home with their beloved dog. Patrick says,
“Getting Ollie home was such a relief but it was just the start, our usual vet didn’t have the necessary equipment for the deep scan that would confirm the growth had been removed so we were referred to Fitzpatrick Referrals.
“Known for treating the pedigree pets of the rich and famous, our lovely ‘mutt’ was treated no different and given the very best care. He had the initial scan, and then he was put on a regime of tablets and scans every three months to be sure the tumour was beaten. We were delighted in December when he had his last scan and was officially given the all clear.”
With Ollie now back to his usual crazy self, Patrick and Paula can reflect on his lengthy, life-saving treatment. Patrick said,
“I joke that Ollie had always been so healthy so he must have known we finally had the money to afford for him to be ill – his medication alone was £650 a month – but on a serious note without that win it could have turned out very different.
“Thanks to that winning scratchcard we were able to say yes to every single step of his treatment without a second thought, before we would not have been in that position, we’d have had to think through every single stage. I know we wouldn’t have given up on Ollie but it would have put us into massive debt and it would have had an impact on our financial situation for many years.
“As it is, we now have our fit and healthy Ollie back, we’ve moved to a lovely new home, have a host of amazing holidays booked, including three weeks in Canada in August when Ollie will move in with our eldest daughter. And the icing on the cake? In two weeks’ time we will be at our youngest daughter’s wedding, a wedding which was largely funded by that amazing, life-changing win.
“It’s been an incredible year, all thanks to Ollie and his picky eating habits so we can forgive him all the vet bills!”
The Morlings are in good company when it comes to treating their pooch. As a nation of dog lovers – 26% of the UK adult population have a dog – it should come as no surprise that National Lottery winners only want the best for their Man’s (and Woman’s) best friend. With nearly half (42%) of all National Lottery winners owning a dog, it seems lucky winners don’t just treat their nearest and dearest human friends and relations but make sure their pooches are very much a pampered part of their lottery-winning family too.
One amazing ‘tail’ involves Viv and Kev Moss and their beloved Labrador, Stanley. The couple, who won almost £7M in 1998 recently bought a new car – a Bentley Bentayga – just to help make Stanley’s life easier getting in and out of the boot. Another couple who have used their win to improve their rescue dog’s quality of life are Faye and Richard Davies who scooped £1M on EuroMillions in June 2018. Lucy, who is a very anxious dog, received the first big treat after the win in the shape of a £20,000 field of her very own. Now nervous Lucy enjoys walkies without the worry of meeting strangers!
