A man who prayed to his late mum for "a miracle" after racking up £14k in debt won £100k on the lottery just days later.

Terry Billings, 46, regularly played the lottery with his mum, Patricia, and brother, Danny, 49, before she passed away after battling bladder cancer in March 2020, aged 73. 

Devastated Terry vowed to carry out his mum's "dying wish" - continuing to play weekly with their same numbers - his mum's year of birth (46), his mum's favourite number (6), his son's birthday and his mum's birthday (22), his birthday (16) and his daughter's birthday (29).

But in the past year, Terry fell on hard times when work as a self-employed promoter dried up and he racked up £14k in credit card debt.

Desperate to sort out his situation, Terry found himself looking to the sky and poured his heart out to his mum about his debt.

Two days later, on the June 22, his son's ninth birthday, Terry received an email letting him know he had won £100k on the health lottery after all five numbers matched.

He has since cleared his debt and plans to treat himself to a holiday a Greek island in October to celebrate.

Dad-of-two Terry, a promotion marketer, from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, said: "You just do not believe something like that could happen.

"The week before the lottery win, I looked up to the sky and I told her how much I missed her and my struggles with debt. 

"Two days later, I got the email to say I'd netted £100k."

After Patricia was diagnosed with bladder cancer, she and Terry decided to switch to the Health Lottery.

Terry said: "My mum's dying wish was for me to carry on playing her numbers. 

"I set up a direct debit with the Health Lottery because of the charitable causes."

Following Patricia's death in March 2020, Terry continued to play - even when he fell on hard times.

He said: "Over the past year or so, my self-employed work was quite sporadic, and I got into debt with credit cards.

"It was close to £14,000 - it had built and built.

"It was a combination of everything. 

"You end up overdrawn with bills to pay when you're self-employed and work isn't coming in."

But days later after his wish to his mum, Terry's life changed and he is now able to put some money aside for his children.

He added: "It was my son's ninth birthday on June 22 that we got the email that I'd won the lottery. 

"Most bizarre and very overwhelming,

"I had to wait until Monday morning to ring them, and I was going through the automated line, and they did some security checks and then they confirmed the win. 

"They invited me to the headquarters for some champagne and put me up in a hotel.

"The money was in my account a few days later. 

"I've paid my debts and put some money away in premium bonds for my children."