The most extraordinary sequence of events led up to a Sheffield man answering a life-changing call on Friday afternoon to find out he’d won £450,000.

Absolute radio’s Gemma Atkinson delivered the epic news in an emotional call to David Grieve to reveal that almost half a million pounds would be in his bank account within the hour.

David (57) was patiently waiting for his 18-week pregnant wife Ayesha to arrive home from work, having deliberated how to deliver the news that he had resigned from his job the day before on the spur of the moment – and without another job to go to.

David, originally from the North East, explained: “I was sitting in the car park at the tram station thinking about how Ayesha was going to take the news. We are expecting our first baby and I have had a rollercoaster of a time with work over the past few years. I’m currently commuting around 150 miles per day and then working a ten-hour shift, so I knew when the baby comes along, we’d struggle to be able to cope. I’m desperate to be around more, not only to support Ayesha, but also so I don’t miss the precious first few years of our child’s life – we’ve waited a long time to become parents.”

placeholder image — David and Ayesha Grieve.

After entering the competition earlier that afternoon, David had put it to the back of his mind and so didn’t think twice when his phone rang displaying an unknown number

He continued: “When Gemma spoke, I knew immediately what was happening, but it just felt surreal.

“Here I was stealing myself for a difficult conversation with my wife and now I was working out how to give her both pieces of information… In the end, I got the producer to speak to her on the phone to let her know how much we’d won!”

As they contemplate becoming a family of three, David can’t quite compute the chain of events that led to the big win. A firm believer in fate, he reflected: “In the space of five minutes, our whole lives changed. I was so stressed out in my job and handed in my notice on instinct, even though I didn’t have a clue what we would do and how we would cope financially. It was like I just knew things would work out.”

Now the amazing turn of fortune is starting to sink in, the couple are busy making plans for the baby. But what was the first thing David treated himself to?

He continued: “I went online yesterday morning and ordered 120 coffee pods, which is the ultimate luxury for me! I just feel truly blessed and that this is definitely our year – from finding out I was going to become a father for the first time aged 57 on New Year’s Eve, I’ve now resigned from my job, won a life changing amount of money and Newcastle then topped it all off by winning on Saturday. Things really can’t get any better, can they?”