Fw: Avalanche survivor wins Lotto

Avalanche survivor wins Lotto

A man who survived one of Britain's worst avalanches disasters has won a share of an £8m National Lottery jackpot.

Stephen Newton was on a winter climbing course with the Scouts when he was buried alive under a huge snowfall in 1998, reports the Daily Telegraph.

The 34-year-old, from Dartford in Kent, was part of a group of seven caught in the disaster on 4,000ft Aonoch Mor, in Scotland.

Four of his friends were killed in the Christmas tragedy while Mr Newton and his then girlfriend Sarah Finch were plucked to safety after surviving in sub-zero temperatures for 16 hours with their instructor.

Mr Newton, whose mother and father, Ted, 69, and Marilyn, 65m set up the family syndicate which led to their rollover win, is planning to donate a "significant sum" to mountain rescue charities.

A spokesman for Camelot said: "Stephen was indeed a survivor of one of the worst avalanches in Britain's history.

"Of course it was a terrible chapter in his life and it is understandable that he feels he has a life-long debt to his rescuers."

The disaster killed four of their friends - Emma Ray, 29, Paul Hopkins, 28, Matthew Lewis, 28, and Ian Edwards, 30.

Mr Newton had already narrowly escaped death while on another Scouting trip in 1990.

He was reported missing at sea for 24 hours in 1990 while on a night navigation sailing exercise and the boat he was in eventually washed ashore in Essex after losing its sails in a storm.