Army veteran Jules went blind in one eye. Then he became a millionaire

A windfall can bring stability and a sense of contentment for some. For others, it is a more complex experience, exposing vulnerabilities.

After a spell of bad luck with his health, Jules won $928,000 in the Lotto. Source: SBS

Do you dream of suddenly coming into money — winning Lotto, a quiz show, or a prize home? With rising costs of living, it's a popular fantasy; but does it always change our lives for the better? Watch Insight episode Coming Into Money at 8.30PM Tuesday 23 June on SBS or SBS On Demand.

In 2019, Jules was about to be sent on his fourth deployment, this time to Iraq, when he became ill with a rare autoimmune disease.

"I couldn't walk properly. It was like I was drunk", Jules told Insight.

The Army veteran was in hospital for six weeks, where he lost 15kg and had to learn to walk again. 

"And then six weeks after I got out of hospital, I started having seizures, which I'd never had before," Jules said.

His health issues worsened the following year when he lost sight in his right eye after a seizure. 

"Then the doctors finally figured out what was wrong with me, gave me transfusions and the seizures stopped." 

Stability in uncertainty

The following week, Jules was in the supermarket with his then girlfriend (now wife) when he bought a Lotto ticket on a whim.

The next morning, he received the news every punter dreams of.

"I'd won $928,000 ... It just felt very surreal for the first 24 hours."

Jules then rang his mother to tell her he had won the jackpot.

"And she thought I'd had a seizure because it was 6.30 on a Sunday morning.

"It was just a sad paradigm insofar as any strange phone calls were not good news — from the preceding couple of years."

He then woke two of his best mates, who also thought at first he was calling with bad news.

"Everyone I told was like, 'Far out, finally some good luck'," he said.

The email Jules received the next morning after buying the Lotto ticket. Source: Supplied

Jules thought about splurging with his winnings — even considering a hair transplant — but decided to be "sensible" and buy a house.

He moved into a new home within 10 days of receiving the Lotto money, which he says was "very grounding".

"There was a lot of uncertainty in my life at the time. I didn't know if I'd ever drive again ...

"The one thing I could say for certain is: 'I've got a house, and I can stay put for however long I want'."

Winning Big Brother

Navigating the journey after a windfall wasn't as smooth for Reggie Sorensen (formerly Reggie Bird).

In 2003, she went from working in a fish and chip shop in Tasmania to becoming a household name after winning $250,000 on the reality show Big Brother. 

She originally went on the show because she wanted a holiday, and winning felt "really bizarre".

"It didn't feel like a win because it felt like I had this amazing experience.

"And at the end, I was more excited about winning the PlayStation."

Big Brother host Gretel Killeen (left) and Reggie when she won the show in 2003. Source: Supplied / Network 10

After making what she said were poor financial choices and splitting up with her first husband, she moved to Sydney to find work in the media industry.

Reggie says after some setbacks — including being conned out of $40,000 and not finding work — those winnings had dwindled to $60,000 two years later.

She says her bad luck continued during this time when she was diagnosed in 2004 with an eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa.

"I shouldn't laugh about it, but God, you could write a book about all my stuff that's happened," she said.

Reggie says her life turned around when she moved to the Gold Coast, where she got married again and had her two children, Mia and Lucas.  

But the family faced difficulties when Lucas was diagnosed with the lung disease cystic fibrosis.  

"I went into bad depression for about two years — this horrible hole that I thought I was never going to get out of," she said.

"But one day I just snapped out of it and moved on from it ... "

Her second marriage then ended, but she says they remain friends.

'I just felt like a failure'

Then in 2022, she made another appearance on Big Brother as one of several old castmates and won $250,000 for a second time.

At this stage, she was living on a disability pension.

Her eyesight was getting worse, and she decided to take her children on a holiday to New Zealand with some of the winnings.

"It amazing to go and see things with the kids because I'm going to wake up one day and it's not going to be there ever again," Reggie said.

"It was just awesome to be able to that."

She is now legally blind with eight degrees of pinhole vision.

 She also had the goal of buying a home, which unfortunately did not happen.

"I went to the bank to get a loan, and they looked at me and said, 'You're nearly 50 years old. You're going blind. You don't have a job. We're not giving you a loan.'

"I just felt like a failure. Now I'm eating away at the prize money, using it for rent and living expenses." 

'Beware of scammers and bad actors'

David is an integrated wealth advisor and belongs to a private wealth network, in which members have between $50 million and $1 billion in assets.

He advises some members of his network on issues like succession planning and governance.

He says that if you suddenly come into money, you should take a beat.

"Don't rush into anything, because you don't know what to do with all that money," David said.

"Then find someone you can trust to guide you and give you sound advice."

He also says to "beware of scammers and bad actors" who, for example, might be opportunistic in wanting you to invest in half-baked business ideas.

"People will come out of the woodwork, and not all of them will have your best interests at heart ... they're all over the place — and that can include your friends."

David says that people who come into money should be aware of scammers and bad actors. Source: SBS

David did not win his wealth but grew up in a "wealthy" family.

"My father's family in Poland were very comfortable before World War Two. But he was forced to be a slave labourer in Auschwitz concentration camp," David said.

"Most of his family were murdered — only he and one brother survived."

His father joined his cousins in Australia after the war, and they built a successful business in textiles, manufacturing and commercial property. 

'It's like a gift from heaven'

Susan, who has been entering competitions for 45 years since she was 12, also hit the cash jackpot.

"[The bank] was asking for 25 words or less on the topic of women and superannuation," Susan said.

"And my words, more or less, obviously struck a chord because I won."

Susan says she came across a couple of articles at the time that talked about how to process and think about a windfall "and the mindset you should apply to think through what you actually want to use it for".

She then decided to take time off work and put the $25,000 prize money towards post-grad education.

"It was the best thing I could have done in my life at that time; it brought me great joy." 

Susan had three different windfalls. Source: SBS

But her next two windfalls — including receiving an inheritance — brought very mixed emotions

"I don't think anyone received that money easily because it's the loss of a parent or parents," she said.

"To honour my mum and dad, I put half of the money into the home I was about to buy — and I put the other half in investments ... And when the dividends pay, it's like a gift from heaven."

Susan refers to her third windfall as "dirty money", as it was an outcome of an eight-year legal battle over a workplace incident. 

"I cried when I saw that money in my account," she said.

"But I turned it into something positive by using it for home renovations."

The real prize 

Jules says he hasn't been treated differently by anyone in his life since coming into money, and that it's just been "long overdue" good news for everyone.

"My neurologist said, 'Of all the people who I wanted to win Lotto, it was you.'

" ... It was just joy, to be honest."

Jules says winning Lotto has brought him stability and the ability to help others — for example, buying his father a car and an apartment.

"It's certainly made my life easier, but it's also given me more capacity to help others — and that's worth a lot to me.

"Most importantly, getting ill made me realise that the support of my family and friends was extraordinary; and that's the Lotto — you can't buy that."

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