When a young couple realized they could claim their lottery prize more than $200 million. They felt sadness. They had assumed they had hit it big. Many individuals consider winning the lottery a fantasy, a dream come true that encourages ideas of extravagant expenditure and life changed overnight.
When Rachel Kennedy and Liam McCrohan, ages 19 and 21, thought they had won an amazing £182 million (about $216 million), they were over the moon. Rachel told The Sun her thrill, adding, “I checked the app and saw ‘Winning Match,’ and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’ve won!’ I immediately shared the amazing news, calling my mom and Liam, and they were exactly as stunned as I was.
For weeks, the Hertfordshire couple had been regularly performing the same set of numbers, letting their dreams about how they would spend their new wealth run wild. They dreamed of all kinds of ostentatious buys and adventures fit for them. Their hopes soon gave way, though, as they discovered they could not collect the massive jackpot following all.
For Rachel, a business student at university at the time, reality hit hard. She found out her account lacked enough money to confirm the ticket she believed to be a winner. Rachel and Liam were left battling broken hopes and a great sense of loss instead of commemorating their life-altering event.
This encounter reminds us that although aspirations of prosperity might inspire enthusiasm and happiness, the road to those desires can occasionally veer unexpectedly.
Rachel Kennedy thought she had hit it rich with a £182 million Euro Millions win, only to be informed by the lottery operator that although her account lacked the required funds to cover the ticket purchase, she had the correct numbers.
“I thought I had won and I was on top of the world,” Kennedy recalled. “But Liam was actually more disappointed than I was when I discovered I hadn’t.”
Following the bad news, McCrohan, a university economics student, expressed his annoyance on X (previously Twitter), saying: “When your Mrs decides not to play the Euro Millions… and all 7 of her usual numbers come out.”
Kennedy felt too ashamed to post her views on social media. She admitted their run of poor luck, and McCrohan voiced his disappointment: “I had spent everything in my imagination already. When we found out the man on the phone said we hadn’t purchased the ticket, I was rather devastated”.
The lottery’s company, Camelot, contacted the couple and wished them “the best of luck in future draws.” “We’re aware of Rachel’s story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw,” a spokesman said. Kennedy has opted to change her numbers after the incident to prevent another sad situation.
This is not the first time couples have suffered lottery-related bad fortune. In another instance, Michael Cartlidge and Charlotte Cox disputed a £1 million scratch card prize following their split. Cox felt she was entitled to the money since she bought and scraped the card to expose the wins. Cartlidge, however, said he promised to pay her back off for the ticket and that it was his idea to acquire it.
Such tales remind players of the erratic character of luck and highlight the emotional highs and lows that might accompany lottery aspirations.
Saying he was “completely shocked,” he emphasized his incredulity in an interview with The Sun. Although Charlotte won it without me, I can honestly state that we wouldn’t have had that ticket without her. Her bank account paid the expenses; hence, ethically, it seems like a 50-50 arrangement.
He described how it happened: “I pulled up my Halifax app to start the transfer when I realized I didn’t have my bank card while shopping. I even brought her the screen. The CCTV footage from the shop shows this: Camelot.
One insider close to Charlotte, though, sees things differently. They said, Mike has no entitlement to this money. He is not a moral person. Charlotte paid for the ticket, won, and scratched it off. This is settled.
One million pounds has never caused so much misery, they claimed.
A Lotto spokesman explained to The Sun, The National Lottery rules for scratch cards stipulate that only one person may own a ticket. The person whose name and address appear on the rear of the winning card is the only one qualified to claim the reward. All the winners are informed of this policy.
They said, “We always advise someone to draft a legal agreement first if they agree to distribute their winnings to others like in a lottery pool.” Without such a contract, all conflicts must be settled privately among the engaged parties.
Statistics demonstrate that disagreements over lottery earnings are not unusual; many cases result in protracted court battles and emotional suffering.