Recent Heart Scare Prompts Lottery Support

Yvonne Andrews knows firsthand the vital life-saving work of the Heart Foundation after her son was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome last year.

The Invercargill resident regularly buys the charity’s lottery tickets as a way of donating to a good cause, but she did not expect to win first prize, a new Jennian home at Wanaka valued at more than half a million dollars.

“I’ve bought the house lottery tickets for years as it is for a fantastic cause, but the significance of the Heart Foundation’s work was really brought home after our son, Jason needed heart surgery,” says Mrs Andrews.

“Jason was born with the condition, but it was not diagnosed until last year when he was 16 years old. For us, that really showed that heart scares can happen to anyone, at any age.”

Cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) is the number one cause of death for both men and women in New Zealand - accounting for 40% of all deaths annually.

The Heart Foundation is the charity working to stop New Zealanders dying prematurely from heart disease. It does this through funding vital heart research and continuing education of cardiologists, improving heart disease risk assessment and cardiac care, and promoting heart healthy lifestyles.

Mrs Andrews was “gobsmacked” when she received the call telling her she had won the Wanaka home, even ringing Heart Foundation Lottery Manager Gail McIntyre back to check the call wasn’t a radio prank.

“We had seen that the last house winners were from Southland, so I had said to my husband Hugh not to expect a call…and then to win the house, at a location so close to us, was just fantastic,” she says.

The Andrews, who own and operate the Waikiwi Mobil service station and garage, plan to keep the Wanaka house as a holiday home. The couple, together with their three teenage children, has already spent several weekends enjoying the house since receiving the keys.

“We were able to take an Easter break there and relax and watch the ‘Warbirds over Wanaka’ from the comfort of our front lawn,” says Mrs Andrews.

“It is a beautiful, tasteful home and what makes it even more special is that the building work and the interior furnishings were all done by local Southland firms.”

South Island Heart Foundation lottery ticket buyers have been enjoying a run of good luck lately, with the previous lottery’s first prize home won by Invercargill couple, Kelly and Barry McLaughlin. The latest lottery also saw the top prizes of a Toyota car won in Timaru and the Earlybird $10,000 prize was won by a Winton resident.

The next Heart Foundation lottery offers as first prize a three bedroom home in Kinloch, Lake Taupo, valued at $470,000, as well as major holiday packages to Australia and Fiji. Information about this charity promotion can be viewed at www.heart.org.nz and the lottery closes on 30 April 2010.

Jennian Homes is the major sponsor of the Heart Foundation Lottery, and is proud to be able to give back to the community through supporting such a worthy cause.

ENDS

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