subject: Work Injury Cost Me My Job: Thanks To My Lottery Win I've Got A Life Again [print this page] Most people, when presented with the ubiquitous question, 'What would you do if you won the lottery?' opt for several options from a list including; have a Ferrari in the garage, get a wardrobe full of designer clothes, go to the Caribbean, or if they're a philanthropist, give a large chunk of it to charity.
But a Manchester man whose career was ended by a work injury has some rather more grounded plans for his new fortune after lifting over GBP11 million in the National Lottery.
Peter Redikin, aged 50 and now unemployed, had been a busy joiner until a work injury he sustained in an accident, in 1995, caused such severe damage to his cruciate ligament that he was unable to work thereafter and he has suffered discomfort ever since.
Now, however, with his double-rollover win last Wednesday, he and his wife Jacqueline plan, among other things, to pay for an operation that will give him, as he puts it, 'a new lease of life.'
Mr Redikin said that he had already been on the phone to the benefits office to inform them that he won't be claiming his disability living allowance any longer.
"They were very pleased I won't be needing them any more. I will be able to do things I haven't been able to do since my accident and can have an active lifestyle again," he said.
Once a keen sportsman, he is now looking forward to being able to enjoy so many of the activities that he did before his accident.
It is unclear why Mr Redikin did not choose to have his knee operation under the auspices of the NHS. Perhaps with all the negative press the beleaguered health service is receiving at the minute, he thought he might be better waiting to have his operation performed privately.
One also presumes that he did not make an injury claim at the time, the reason presumably being that a work was because he was self-employed and did not have an employer to claim compensation from.
The Belfast Telegraph also reports the story of a man who suffered a horrific injury twenty-three years ago and is now talking about his experiences.
Victor McKinney, whose father Vic was a well-known Northern Irish footballer, was paralysed from the neck down following a 'freak accident' in South Africa, when a falling tree smashed into their car and killed his father on the spot after they were driving back from a training session.
Despite being essentially unable to move, he incredibly took up painting and has become a talented artist, using just his mouth. It's stories like this that make one appreciate the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
by: Richard Craig
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