Annie Walton Doyle
A couple who ‘won over $200 million in a lottery jackpot’ were left heartbroken after being told they couldn’t collect the money.
For many of us, winning the lottery is the stuff of dreams.
You can quickly lose track of time by thinking of all the extravagant purchases you could make.
It’s the news no one expects to receive, but would absolutely love for it to happen.
Yet for one couple, their ‘win’ ended up becoming a nightmare.
Related Article: Professor Explains Why Winning $20 Million Lottery Won’t Make You Happy
Related Article: UK’s Youngest Ever Lottery Winner Wanted To Sue After Her Life Changed Overnight
Rachel Kennedy and Liam McCrohan, who were 19 and 21 at the time, believed they had won the £182 million ($216 million) jackpot on the EuroMillions.
Kennedy tells The Sun: “I went on the app and it said ‘Winning Match’ and I thought ‘Oh my God, I’ve won’. So I called my boyfriend Liam and my mum into the room and they couldn’t believe it either.”
The Hertfordshire couple – who had played the same numbers for multiple weeks in a row – admit they got a bit ‘carried away’ in fantasising about how they could spend the money.
However, they soon found out they wouldn’t be getting the large sum of cash.
Kennedy, who was studying business at university at the time, didn’t have the necessary funds in her account.
She explains: “I called the number thinking that I had won £182 million and they said ‘Yeah you’ve got the right numbers but you didn’t have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket’.
“I was on top of the world when I thought I had won but when I found out I hadn’t, Liam was actually more upset than I was.”
After finding out the disappointing news, McCrohan, who was studying economics at university, took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote: “When your Mrs decides not to play the EuroMillions… and all 7 of her usual numbers come up.”
Meanwhile, Kennedy ‘was too embarrassed to post anything about it’.
Kennedy admits that they have the ‘worst luck’, while McCrohan adds: “She was quite relaxed about it but I had kind of spent it in my head already.
“I was absolutely heartbroken when we heard the man on the phone say we hadn’t actually bought the ticket.”
Camelot would send the couple a ‘good luck’ message, wishing them ‘the best of luck in future draws’, as per the Mirror.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We’re aware of Rachel’s story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw.”
Kennedy has now changed her numbers – we just hope for their sake that they don’t come up again!
Related Article: Lottery Winner Burned Through $50 Million Of Prize Money By Spending $131k A Week
Related Article: UK’s Youngest Ever Lottery Winner Says She ‘Wouldn’t Wish It On Anyone’
This isn’t the first time a couple has had an unfortunate experience with the lottery.
Michael Cartlidge and Charlotte Cox battled over a life-changing sum of money following their breakup.
While together, the pair won £1 million on a lottery scratch card but after they ended their relationship there were concerns over the custody of the huge fortune.
As Cox bought the card and scratched it to reveal the winnings, she believed she was the rightful owner.
However, Cartlidge claimed it was his idea to buy the ticket and that he’d attempted to send Cox the money she spent on the card.
He told The Sun: “I am in shock. I can openly admit that we wouldn’t have got that ticket without Charlotte, but she wouldn’t have got it without me either. I know it was her bank account that paid for it, but it should go 50-50 morally.
“We were in the shop and I went on my Halifax app because I didn’t have my bank card. I started the transfer, I held it up to show her. You can see me doing this on the shop CCTV, which Camelot has.”
However, a source on Cox’s side disagrees, saying: “Mike has no right to this money. He is not a nice person. Charlotte won, she paid for the ticket and she scratched the ticket.
“The case is closed.”
They added that ‘one million pounds has never brought so much misery’.
A spokesperson for Lotto confirms to The Sun: “The National Lottery Rules for Scratchcard Games make clear that only one person can be the owner of a ticket and that only the person whose name and address is written on the back of a winning scratchcard can claim a prize.
“This means that a prize can only be paid to one person and this is always communicated clearly to prize claimants.
“Where a claimant agrees to share a prize with other parties (for example, players in a syndicate) after the prize has been paid, we always recommend that a legal agreement is drawn up between the interested parties.
“If there is no agreement in place, any dispute between the parties needs to be resolved between themselves.”
Do you have a story for us? If so, email us at [email protected]. All contact will be treated in confidence.
