A former RAF medic can now pay off his mortgage and clear his debts after winning £300,000 in a competition he entered for £4.28. Ryan Briggs, 46, from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, was offered a 2026 Lamborghini Temerario worth an estimated £270,000 or £300,000 in cash after winning a competition organised by Elite Competitions, and he chose the money.
Ryan said the windfall would reduce financial pressure and could allow him to cut his working hours in future. He said:
"I can now reduce my hours [at work] in the future if I wanted to. I'm fit and healthy now, but that can change. It takes a lot of pressure off,"
Ryan met his wife Kelly, a logistics mover, when they were both in the RAF, aged 19. She left shortly afterwards and had been planning to move back to northern Scotland, but instead the pair had a
"shotgun wedding"and have now been married for 27 years. Ryan, who is a father-of-two, said:
"It worked for us, because we are still happily married 27 years later,"
He said he had grown up with a
"fascination"with planes after his father took him to air shows at RAF St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, which inspired him to join the RAF.
The couple said they would use the winnings to pay off debts and treat their sons. 
Ryan spent 23 years in the Royal Air Force, including tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, before joining the NHS as a paramedic during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also served in the Caribbean during Hurricane Irma, a category five hurricane that killed 55 people when it hit the region in 2017.
He later moved into healthcare, following his mother, who was a nurse in Pembrokeshire.
After winning the competition, Ryan and Kelly were flown from Pembrokeshire to Blackpool Airport by helicopter to choose between the car and the cash. Ryan said he had flown
"pretty much every RAF helicopter you can think of"over the years, but added:
"this one was a lot safer, more comfortable and definitely heading to a very different destination"He also said:
"The journey also wasn't in 40 to 50 degree Celsius heat,"
Although he is a fan of cars, especially Lamborghinis, which he described as his
"dream car", Ryan said he made the
"sensible decision"to take the money. He said:
"Me and Kelly can now clear our debts, pay the rest of the mortgage off and treat our boys,"adding that, after moving around in the RAF, he had only recently managed to buy a home.
"Being able to pay our mortgage off at 46 is huge,"he said.
Alex Beckett, chief executive of Elite Competitions, said Ryan had spent much of his life helping others in the RAF and NHS. He said:
"Knowing this prize will give them financial security after years of public service makes it an especially rewarding winning story,"
