In a touching story of a desperate mother, a community came together to show support for her ailing child. Lorraine Daniels, the mother of 7-year-old Lotus, was touched deeply by the generosity shown to her by those close to her. For a time that should have been every woman's most important day of her life, without warning, it soon became her new nightmare.
Shorty after Lotus' birth, she suffered a series of fits resulting in the medical team's decision to remove one hemisphere of the brain just to keep her alive. Just a few weeks into her life, new problems began to surface in the form of epileptic fits and by the time she was 3-years-old, the situation increased exponentially, experiencing up to 300 every day. Doctors recommended inducing a coma for a short while.
Lotus was in dire need of a specialized bed necessary for her condition. Close family and friends of Lorraine put together funds for the bed, with the help of the community. However, before it could be delivered, Lorraine's lucky numbers paid dividends when she and her dad, Derek, 77, took home £729,026 share of the £2,187,078 midweek UK Lottery jackpot. Grateful for the support she had received during the family ordeal, she vowed to pay back everyone involved for their generosity.
She said: “I couldn’t afford the specialist bed, so the community was amazing and raised enough money for us to order it. Who would have thought that before the bed had even arrived, I would have won the Lottery? Now I can pay back the community, so the money can go to another worthy cause.”
After the removal of half of Lotus' brain in 2014 which took nine and a half hours, even the operating doctors were taken aback by her recovery.
Lorraine said: “Since her operation, Lotus has baffled all the doctors and specialists who predicted a very limited quality of life. She is learning to walk again and communicate through sign language, and she’s doing really well at her school. The Lotto win is amazing, Lotus is our miracle."
She then recalled the moment she first realised that their lives were going to change forever: "It was just before eight when dad called. My immediate thought was something had happened to mum but all he said was ‘what are your Lottery numbers?’ I thought he was going potty but he told me to sit down and then said, ‘You’ve won the Lottery’ - then it was me who went slightly potty. I explained it to Lotus. No child understands money but she knows something’s happened because she went to school giggling today."
Derek added: “It was a very memorable moment for a dad to share with his daughter and believe me, we’ve shared many memorable moments. We were sitting there somewhere between stunned and crazy. We kept thinking about all the things that were now possible and how all our heartache and worry for Lotus’ future was over. Making that call was wonderful but even after it had been confirmed we were still in absolute shock, going through every magical how, what, why and when to spend.”
The lucky numbers which were put together from Lotus' birth date, her birth weight, and christening date, were:
| 1 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 31 |