Dubai: Ratheesh Regunanthan, an Indian immigrant in Kuwait, won the first prize in Dh15m Abu Dhabi Big Ticket draw on Sunday.
The age of the immigrant is 42 years old, and he is a father of four who is serving his notice period, and that is why he bought the lucky ticket no 291593 and 11 other colleagues who are among the last ones to leave their company by April 30, Ratheesh said.
According to Ratheesh, he worked as a local buyer in the procurement section of a Korean construction company in Kuwait; he added that some five years back, we were working on a project, and suddenly, our company said this is our last project in Kuwait. We have finished the project, and most of the employees have left. We are the last 12 people left there.
Ratheesh belongs to the south Indian state of Kerala, and he and his colleagues had been taking tickets for several years.
“When we bought this ticket, we knew from inside that it was going to be our last ticket together. We knew that we were not going to be together again next month. We hoped to win at least the weekly draw, but we never thought in our dream that we would hit this jackpot.”
Furthermore, he stated, “Maybe, god heard us talking; this is a gift for us from god’s side. We were worried about our future as all of us living here with our families; at the same time, we were also worried about our children’s education. We were in trouble with what to do next.”
He stated he had already called all his colleagues, and they all were on their way to his residence.
Though he said the mega prize would change his life, and emotional Ratheesh spoke with his voice choking: “I still don’t know the actual amount that I won…all I want to say now is I will first build a house for my sister who is facing financial difficulties.”
The time when the show host ‘Richard’ called him on the stage, and he announced the winner, he also hosts..really? Followed by a series of Thank You.
“I am pleased about this,” he said and asked if he needed to come down to Abu Dhabi to claim his prize.