From queue jumping to nagging daughters – here’s the bizarre ways punters scoop jackpot joy
ASDA worker Ellie Land stopped to spend a penny at her local store – and ended up scooping £1million on the lottery.
The 41-year-old used the loo before deciding to splash the cash on a winning EuroMillions ticket.
Now the mum-of-two is planning to marry her partner Karl and buy a “forever home” with the fortune.
Chief Features Writer Matt Bendoris looks at other incredible strokes of luck that have led to punters hitting the jackpot.
Libby Elliot
Scots mum Libby Elliot’s visit to see her dad in hospital resulted in a £2,169,664 win on the lottery.
Shortly before leaving the ward in 2013, her father gave Libby some loose change for his four grandchildren and also “two pounds pocket money” to his daughter.
Libby, then 57, from Aberdeenshire, recalled: “On a whim, I used the £2 to buy a Lucky Dip on my way home.”
When she visited her dad the next day, he said: “Look at you, you’re a multi-millionaire and yet you’re sitting here beside me.”
Arron Walshaw
Plasterer Arron Walshaw was in a rush to buy a lottery ticket in 2018 – when a kind shopper allowed him to jump the queue.
The 32-year-old from Ossett, West Yorkshire, had just minutes to buy a Lucky Dip before the deadline at his local Tesco store.
It got him and fiancée Ceri Hall, 23, a £1million Lotto Raffle prize.
He said: “I popped into a shop where this lady saw I was in a rush and insisted I went before her.
“What a stroke of luck that turned out to be, as I wouldn’t have been in time to buy my ticket if she hadn’t let me go first.”
Laura Spears
A US woman almost missed out on a £2.2million prize when the winning email from the Michigan Lottery went into her spam folder.
Laura Spears had been searching for an unrelated email when she spotted the prize-winning one – just days before it would have been deleted automatically.
The 55-year-old nurse said: “I was looking for a lost email from someone, so I checked the spam folder.
“I couldn’t believe what I was reading.
“I’ve definitely added the Michigan Lottery to my list of safe senders now.”
Stuart Powell
Lorry driver Stuart Powell was driven round the bend when he wanted to enter a draw for a £116million rollover.
He was given a ticket for the wrong date instead by the shop assistant, which turned out to be a £1million winner.
Stuart bought the ticket from a Co-op in Lichfield, Staffs, in 2015 and later noticed the mistake.
He said: “I thought I had bought a Lucky Dip for that Friday but the lady got her dates mixed up.
“I’m so glad she did. I spent the weekend cursing her but that’s the reason I won.”
Derek and Dawn Ladner
Derek and Dawn Ladner were thrilled when the same six numbers they used every week came up in the lottery draw.
The couple from Redruth, Cornwall, initially claimed £479,142 from the £2,395,710 jackpot top prize in 2007.
A week later Derek, 57, found a second ticket in his pocket – with the same numbers – which increased their winnings to £958,284.
Lottery operator Camelot said: “He’s the first person to have won twice in the same draw.
“It must have been a huge and happy surprise.”
Kerri-Ann Robinson
Kerri-Ann Robinson was being nagged by her daughter for a blackcurrant juice when she nipped into a shop at lunchtime.
The 41-year-old mature student, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, then chose a Lucky Dip for that same evening’s draw in 2007 “as an afterthought” – and won £2,543,691.
She says: “When I realised I had won, everything went blurry.
“I put my ticket in my pencil case, rang my mum and burst into tears.
“Afterwards I went from wearing costume jewellery to buying the real thing.”
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