The lucky ticket holder had unknowingly scooped a massive €500,000 in the Euro Millions Plus draw – but the ticket went missing after her partner hid it for safekeeping
A couple who scooped €500,000 (£432,000) from a Lotto ticket almost lost the life-changing prize after the winning slip went missing just hours after the draw.
The ticket, bought on impulse at Con’s Shop on in Cork, Ireland, on the day of the Euro Millions Plus draw on January 27, was scanned that evening using the National Lottery app. The woman from Kerry, who was visiting family in Cork at the time, was met with a message reading: “You’ve won big, contact the National Lottery.” She later claimed the €500,000 prize this week at the National Lottery HQ in Dublin, according to Cork Beo.
Recalling the moment, she said she stayed surprisingly calm, admitting she initially had no idea how much she’d won and had to scroll through the results to work it out. “Surprisingly, I was very calm, although at first I had no idea what I’d won, so there was a bit of scrolling and scrambling through the draw results to figure it out,” the woman said.
But the calm didn’t last for long, as her partner, who had hidden the ticket for safekeeping, realised later that night he had hidden it too well. He then tore the kitchen apart in a panic, even pulling cupboards apart in a frantic search for the missing slip.
He later admitted he didn’t want to tell his partner the ticket had vanished. It was eventually recovered, with the close call only revealed once the ticket was safely back in hand.
The Kerry woman said the win will allow the couple to fulfill a long-held travel dream. “We’re heading to Asia to do some travelling. It’s been on our bucket list for so long, so we can’t wait to finally book it,” she said.
Last week, another woman from cork took home a €100,000 (£86,000) prize and also revealed plans to go on a dream holiday.
A man in Dublin meanwhile also scooped €500,000 from the same Euro Millions Plus draw on January 27. He said he almost missed out on the news entirely after ignoring an email alert about the win. He later discovered the win after checking the app the following morning.
The man said he would like to use some of the money to take his wife on a cruise, but for now the couple are allowing some time to let the news sink in.
