Brother of £105m lotto Slovakian shop girl tells of shock

EXCLUSIVE: ‘She’s now so rich she can buy EVERY house in the village!’ Brother of Slovakian shop girl who won £105m Euromillions jackpot says he doesn’t want a penny of her money (…but a pick up truck might be nice!)

• Steve and Lenka Thomson are ninth-biggest winners in history of the lottery 
• 42-year-old builder and his 41-year-old wife are from from Selsey, West Sussex 
• Couple are now wealthier than Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Ronnie Wood
• Hard-working Lenka grew up in the village of Rakova, in northern Slovakia, with a population of 5,500 and where the average wage is £350 a week
• Her brother, a car mechanic, lives in the modest three bedroom worth £88,000 where the lotto winner grew up 

Ratislav Hromadka (above) is the brother of EuroMillions winner Lenka Thomson

Lottery winner Lenka Thomson’s brother today joked her huge £105 million windfall means she can now buy every house in the Slovakian village where she grew up.

Shop girl Lenka, 41, a mother-of-three from Selsey, West Sussex, is now richer than Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Ronnie Wood after her builder husband Gary, 42, scooped the EuroMillions jackpot.

Back home in the bleak village of Rakova, in northern Slovakia, where Lenka grew up, her brother Ratislav Hromadka told of the family’s shock at her incredible win.

Slovakian shop assistant Lenka, a mother of three from Selsey, West Sussex, grew up in this modest three-bedroom home worth £80,000 in the village of Rakova in northern Slovakia

Lenka, and her builder husband  Steve have become the ninth-biggest winner in the history of the National Lottery, making them wealthier than Daniel Radcliffe 

Recalling how Lenka left the village and moved to the UK 17 years ago because she wanted to see the world, he went on: ‘Lenka is a normal person. She loves her family. Even though money has always been tight in the past, she has always come home to see our parents, without fail. 

‘She takes care of everybody and her focus is her loved ones. 

‘But this will not change my life. I will stay working I don’t care because keeping myself busy is very important to me.’ 

Lenka has three children with Steve, having been married for 13 years after meeting in 2002 when they both worked together at a campsite near Chichester. 

The couple said their children had already made their wish lists with their daughter, eight, wanting a pink iPhone and their ten-year-old son asking for a Tesla car.  

Ratislav joked that his sister was now so rich that she had the money to buy every house in their village where the average two-bedroom home costs £40,000.

There are around 1,400 houses in Rakova meaning that if she bought every one for £40,000 it would only use up £61million – just over half of her fortune.

The brother said he didn’t want any money from his wealthy sister, although he wouldn’t mind if she wanted to buy him a a £50,000 Dodge Ram pick up truck. 

‘Lenka could come home now and purchase every house in Rakova!’ he beamed.

‘I love my sister and I don’t want to take anything from her… but I’m sure she will get me something – maybe a car. 

‘I like American pick ups, so maybe she could get me a Dodge Ram.’ 

They currently live in a £120,000 three bedroom terraced home but now plan to buy a new home so that their three children can each have their own bedroom

The couple are now wealthier than Harry Styles, Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson

Mother-of-three Mrs Thomson works in a Premier newsagents in the West Sussex town

Ratislav runs his car repair centre from the home he shares with his wife, children and Lenka’s mother and father Gabriela and Josef Hromadkova.

Revealing the moment she learned of her daughter’s good luck, Gabriela, 67, said: ‘I was out when Lenka rang my mobile on Saturday. 

‘She said, ‘Mum, have you got a chair, you need to sit down I’m going to tell you unbelievable news.’ ‘I went straight home and told Jozef who was in the middle of making lunch. We can’t believe this has happened to our daughter. We haven’t been able to sleep ever since we found out.’

Gabriela said the family leads a modest life but will not be looking for a handout from Lenka. 

She added: ‘Me and Jozef have the ground floor of our house and Rastislav and his wife and two children take up the top two floors. We have our pension and the money that we make through the garage. There’s nothing we want.

‘We won’t be looking for help from Lenka. But she has a heart of gold and will probably insist but it’s up to her. We are quite happy with all we have.’

Neighbour Helga Tur told how the lottery win had instantly made Lenka the richest person in the county.

She told MailOnline: ‘Jesus Maria, I think I’m going to have a heart attack! That is such a lot of money.

‘You could buy the entire county – let alone the whole village with that! I can’t imagine that amount of money. That amount of bank notes would fill up a whole room!’

Neighbour Jana Cicova told MailOnline: ‘It is fantastic news. No one can really believe it. It’s a really good thing. Hardly anyone knows about it yet. But it will soon become really big news.’

Lenka’s brother lives at the family home with his elderly parents Gabriela Hromadkova, 67, and her husband Jozef, 70 – and where he also runs a car repair garage (pictured)

The family home is typical of the properties in Lenka’s home village where 5,500 people reside, where the average two bedroom home costs £40,000 and workers earn £335 a week 

Surrounded by the beautiful Javorink mountains and set at 500m above sea level Rakova is renowned for the honey and bees wax that first put the remote village on the map back in the middle ages.

An outpost on the north-west frontier of the ancient Kingdom of Hungary the village was owned by the powerful aristocratic Eszterhazy family.

Blessed with fertile soil and rich mountain pastures provided a simple life for the few dozen families who lived there and relied on agriculture and honey production.

Following the collapse of the Iron Curtain the village of Rakova was better placed to survive the economic upheaval that other parts of Slovakia.

But as one of the least developed parts of Europe citizens were forced to survive on as little £25 per week before their economy took after joining the EU in 2004.  

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