New Zealand Lotto Winner Donates Decorated Ambulance
One of the country's biggest Lotto winners says donating a new ambulance decorated with leprechauns is her way of sharing her family's "luck of the Irish" with all of Wairarapa.
The new ambulance was blessed yesterday in a ceremony at the Masterton ambulance station.
"We can't help people individually, so this is why we've done this - it's a way of helping a whole community," Fiona Wilton said.
It is the second ambulance bought through donations from the Shamrock Trust, created by Masterton's Wilton family after their "Irish Luck" syndicate scored $36.9 million - the largest Big Wednesday win yet - in 2009.
Since then the trust has donated about $1.5m to the Wairarapa ambulance service, first through the Wairarapa District Health Board and now through Wellington Free Ambulance.
"My mum used to say the money was a curse, because you can't help everybody - this is a better way," Ms Wilton said.
The donation to a local cause would have been very important to her mother, Margaret Heaney, who died in 2010, aged 74.
"She met dad in England but wouldn't marry him until he came out here to the Wairarapa."
Ms Wilton added that donating to Wairarapa community causes helped her cope with life as a big Lotto winner in a small town; her job as a nurse at Wairarapa Hospital also helped.
"I still have to do night shifts - we have to be normal. It's what mum would want."
She wasn't tempted to live a life of idle luxury on her winnings.
"I didn't do three years of study and get a degree to not work. I love my job, I love caring for people."
The blessing ceremony was attended by Wellington Free Ambulance patron Shirley Martin and chief executive Diana Crossan.
Mrs Martin, 83, who has close to six decades of experience with Wellington Free Ambulance, said: "When I saw this donation, I said, 'oh, what a wonderful gift'."
Frontline staff agreed. Intensive care paramedic Hank Bader said patients often asked if they were being transported in the donated ambulance.
"They can relate to it. It gives them a sense of security that someone in the community has donated this vehicle and they are getting the benefit of it."
The new ambulance has two leprechauns painted on the back in recognition of the name of Mrs Heaney's personal trust.
"I wanted to keep mum's memory alive to show how she cared about people," said Ms Wilton.
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