László
Andraschek plans to use his lottery winnings of £1.7m to
set up foundation for addicts and abused women
The Guardian,
Dan Nolan in Budapest, Sunday 16 February 2014
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| László Andraschek, a homeless Hungarian man became a lottery millionaire. Photograph: H Baranyai Edina/BorsOnline |
Unemployed,
in debt and facing another year living on the streets in Hungary, László
Andraschek spent his last remaining coins on a lottery ticket. Now the formerly
homeless man has a choice of accommodation around the world after becoming one
of Hungary's biggest lottery winners, with a prize of about £1.7m.
Andraschek,
whose 630m Hungarian forint win last September went unnoticed until he made a
significant donation to a hostel for the homeless this month, said buying the
ticket was a chance decision at a railway station on his way to Budapest for a
workshop for recovering alcoholics.
"I had
only picked six numbers and the female shop assistant reminded me that I needed
to pick a seventh," he said. "I told her to make it 24 – it doesn't
matter, anyway."
But he was
wrong and now plans to use his winnings to establish a foundation for addicts
and women abused by their husbands.
The
55-year-old resident of Gyor, north-west Hungary, said his first act was to
repay his debts, before cycling to a car dealer. "When the car salesman
asked me how much I would be willing to spend, I held up three fingers. As I
had arrived on a bike he assumed this meant 300,000 forints, but actually I
meant 3m."
As neither
he nor his wife can drive, the car will be driven only by his children.
Andraschek
has since bought flats for each of his three children, paid off the debts of
his relatives and is planning to travel to Italy, having not previously held a
passport.
He and his
wife, Anikó, said they will invest their money cautiously and avoid the ruinous
spending splurges of many a lottery winner. "I have become rich but I have
not become a different person. I could buy a large-screen TV because I can
afford it, but I won't buy three because I can afford it."
Having
struggled with alcoholism, Andraschek finally quit five years ago and says he
"now has no need to return".
The news of
Andraschek's dramatic upturn in fortunes came as human rights activists
organised a wave of protests worldwide against a new Hungarian law that bans
sleeping rough, in a country that has 30,000 homeless people. Last week alone,
demonstrations were held in front of Hungarian embassies and consulates in
London, Paris, New York, Vienna, Lisbon, Dublin, Brussels, Essen and Istanbul.
Next weekend a Hungarian NGO run by homeless people, A Város Mindenkié (The
City is for All), will stage another protest in Budapest against the law, which
threatens those living on the streets with a fine or imprisonment.
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