Broke family left with only Sh2800 given winning betting slip from mystery Good Samaritan

UK: A mysterious benefactor has helped a struggling family in their time of need by handing them a betting slip worth Sh71,500 - when they had just Sh2800 left to their name.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, are now trying to track down the man – who said he wanted to “carry out an act of kindness”.

He then handed over the winning bet, placed on Liverpool to lose last week’s FA Cup semi-final to Aston Villa.

The couple, known only as “L” and “P”, were putting their children to bed on Sunday night when they heard a knock at the door.

On answering the door, L was faced with a man she had never met before holding a slip of paper in her hand.

She explained: “I said it was the wrong time to call as I was putting the kids to bed. He said ‘I don’t know you, you don’t know me but I just want to give an act of kindness’.”

After taking the slip, she quickly thanked him and went back inside where she and her husband soon discovered the true extent of the encounter.

On opening the slip, the pair discovered a William Hill betting slip, placed at a shop in Liverpool that morning for Aston Villa to beat Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi Final.

With a Sh14,300 bet placed on 4-1 odds, the slip was worth Sh71,500.

The next day, the couple took the slip to their nearest William Hill, who confirmed the bet.

After getting in touch with the Liverpool store, it was revealed it had been placed by a man wearing a Liverpool shirt at 9.38am on Sunday, April 19.

Now, almost a week later, the money is sitting inside an envelope in their home in Prenton, Wirral.

“Because she never thanked him properly, she hasn’t done anything with it,” explained L’s mum.

“They were down to their last Sh2800 at the time and on the Monday night after the act of kindness, their ceiling collapsed flooding everywhere after a pipe burst in the bathroom. If they do spend this, it will be going on plumbers.”

L is now beating herself up for not thanking the mysterious benefactor in person.

She said: “We just want to thank him – this is a massive act of kindness.

“It just seems like the biggest most generous of things to do but it couldn’t have come at a better time.”