Radio Host Tears Up After Asking A Cash Prize Winner What He Will Do With $130,000
The news that he had won also made him emotional as he revealed what he planned to do with the cash prize.
TikTok A radio host was left feeling emotional after hearing the response from the winner of a contest who had received a six-figure cash prize.
On Hits Radio UK in England, the station has a daily Cash Register promotion where they give away "life-changing" cash prizes to a lucky caller. While calling the lucky host on their May 17 episode, the station's host Hattie Pearson was pleasantly surprised at the winner's response when asked what he planned to do with the money.
The winner explained he was going to use the money to buy a headstone for his late wife.
The heartwarming moment was captured on camera and posted to many different social channels, where viewers were equally as moved by the winner's response as Pearson was.
"What would you do with the money?" Pearson asked the contest winner John Elkington, a retired man from the UK. As Elkington called into the station, he was unaware at that moment that he was the lucky recipient that day for the cash prize.
In response, Elkington let Pearson know that he would use the money to buy his late wife a gravestone, as she's been gone for the past six years and he hasn't been able to afford one. "And you've not had the opportunity to get a gravestone in all that time?" Pearson asked him.
"When you're a pensioner, it takes a long time to save up," Elkington responded. "With the cost of stuff nowadays." At that point, Pearson had already started tearing up, taking a moment to wipe at her eyes before asking Elkington when was the last time he had been to see his wife.
He told Pearson that he goes out to visit his wife almost every week, and when she asked when was the next that he would be doing so, Elkington let her know that he was due for a visit pretty soon. "I should be going on Saturday," he told Pearson. "Put some fresh flowers on."
"When you go and see your late wife, Anita, on Saturday at the graveyard, you've got some good news to share with her," Pearson announced, letting Elkington know that he had won the cash prize of £105,000 ($130,000), and would be able to finally buy a gravestone for his wife.
"Thank you, darling," Elkington said, joking that he would need some time before he could anywhere because of how shaken up he was at having just won thousands of dollars. "I need five minutes before I can go anywhere. My legs are shaking, I'm shaking everywhere."
Elkington added that throughout his entire life, he had never "won" anything like that before, but made sure to quickly clarify that actually he has. "I won the love of a lovely lady."
Hearing Elkington's words, Pearson took a moment to collect herself before letting him know that their entire conversation had made her quite emotional.
"It's made me emotional," he agreed after hearing how choked up Pearson was. "Absolutely fantastic," Elkington gushed. "Thank you so, so much. You don't know what it means!"
Nia Tipton is a Brooklyn-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.