A British soldier has become an overnight multi-millionaire after winning more than STG13.2 million ($A27.9 million) on a 25p (53 cents) stake.
Jon Heywood, who has toured Afghanistan, won the fortune after placing his bet online.
And after a tough year in which the 26-year-old from Cheshire in northwest England saw his grandfather die, he has vowed that the first thing he will buy is the "best possible medical treatment" for his father who is awaiting a heart and lung transplant.
But Heywood does have his eye one extravagant purchase, and is hoping to spend some of the jackpot he won on a luxury car.
"I couldn't believe that I'd won all this money at the time - and it still hasn't sunk in," he said.
