Luck of the Irish for Wairarapa DHB

ROBERT KITCHIN/The Dominion Post

IN GOOD FINANCIAL HEALTH: Wairarapa's winning Irish Luck syndicate from left, Margaret Heaney, Fiona Wilton, Alicia Heaney and Siobhan Logan with the ambulance they donated to Wairarapa District Health Board in memory of Margaret's late husband, John.

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Big Wednesday multi-millionaire and great-grandmother Margaret Heaney gazed at a photo of her late-husband and whispered, "Please hold my hand today."

The 72-year-old Masterton widow handed over a new ambulance to Wairarapa District Health Board yesterday in memory of Mr Heaney.

"His ashes are by my bed and his photo above my bed. I told him, 'This is our day John, hold my hand and be there with me."'

The ambulance, complete with state-of-the-art medical equipment and new paramedics' uniforms, is part of a $1 million donation from the Irish Luck syndicate's $36.9m windfall – its first major donation.

The winning syndicate, whose four members took $9m each in June's record Lotto draw, comprised Mrs Heaney, her two daughters – Fiona Wilton, a nurse and volunteer paramedic, and Siobhan Logan, a bakery worker – as well as her granddaughter Alicia Heaney, a mother and tertiary student.

They called themselves Irish Luck, after the Irish Mr Heaney.

The ambulance, which brings the the DHB's fleet to seven, has been dubbed "the Shamrock" and sports two four-leaf clovers on its rear doors.

"I've had so much out of life, it's time to put something back," Mrs Heaney said. "Me and John used the ambulance a lot, it's time to put something back into the service. That ambulance is John. I believe his spirit will always be with it."

The family had wanted to ensure its first big gift went to the community where they lived and worked.

Mrs Heaney now has another four charities signed up to benefit from her winnings: Ronald McDonald House Charities, Starship children's hospital, Westpac rescue helicopter and Wairarapa's cancer services.

The pensioner has so far given to sick friends – one who needed a heat pump and another a new driveway – taken care of her four surviving pensioner siblings and put the rest of her winnings into a charitable trust.

The former state house where she has lived for nearly three decades has had a spruce up, but that is where the personal luxuries end.

"Life goes on as usual for all of us. My two girls still work and my granddaughter is still studying," she said.

"We believe we won that money for a reason, and that was to give."

NZ Lotteries chief executive Todd McLeay said the Irish syndicate were remarkable for what it had given back to the community.

"From the moment they came into the Wellington NZ Lotteries office in June to collect their prize, they have talked about how they were going to donate money to areas they felt strongly about – and they have really come through on their word. This family is quite special, and what makes them stand out even more is that their generosity comes so naturally to them."

Health board chairman Bob Francis thanked the family for their generosity.

- © Fairfax NZ News