The ‘heart and soul of our family’ is practically hospitalized with a major health issue, and newsagency proprietors entangled in a $63 million Powerball court battle may be forced to close their store.
On February 24, Kevin and Tania Parkes, owners of City News Kalgoorlie in remote Western Australia, were overjoyed when their ‘pay off your mortgage’ syndicate won half of the $120 million prize.
Each of the 250 members received $261,986, with the couple receiving double the amount due to their individual investments in the syndicate.
But their delight turned to rage when Mr Ing, a former government employee, claimed he was a member of the winning syndicate and hence entitled to a share of the multimillion-dollar prize pool, which the Parkes deny.
On August 2, they will go to the Supreme Court to challenge Mr Ing for the money.
Mrs Parkes spoke out on Saturday about her husband’s suffering as a leg amputee with high blood pressure, as the crucial civil lawsuit looms.
‘Unfortunately, we have been placed under a lot of stress over the last few months with issues we can’t discuss and I need to make Kevin’s health a priority at the moment,’ she wrote on her business’ Facebook page.
‘He has dangerously high blood pressure which is boarding (sic) on hospitalisation but they were able to get under control last night. He is resting up today.’
The couple announced in late-May that they sold their business and planned to hand it over to the new owners in January.
However, Mr Parkes condition could mean they’re forced to shut shop significantly earlier than planned.
‘It is pushing us to the point of probably having to close our heart and soul our beloved shop for good very very soon,’ the mother-of-two continued.
‘We will update after a serious sit down over the weekend to see what happens next.’
