Two Irish EuroMillions Plus players each won €500,000 on January 27, with one Kerry woman nearly losing her ticket in a domestic scramble.
Euromillions (file photo)(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
A recent Irish EuroMillions winner has revealed how trusting her partner with her winning ticket nearly caused more panic than the actual win.
The Kerry woman scooped €500,000 in the EuroMillions Plus draw on January 27 after buying her lucky ticket at Con’s Shop on the Guranabraher Road in Cork.
While collecting her winnings recently at National Lottery HQ, she explained: “I was visiting family in Cork and stopped in for a few bits, and I threw in a EuroMillions ticket – I wouldn’t usually play, but I spotted the jackpot and thought, why not?”
Later that evening, she scanned her ticket on the app, and a message popped up saying “You’ve won big, contact the National Lottery”.
Describing her reaction to the news, she said: “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.”
But things quickly took a turn when she trusted her partner to look after the ticket. She laughed: “He ended up losing it that night”.
Her partner added: “I had to pull the cupboard apart to find the ticket, but I wasn’t telling her that I’d lost it. We eventually decided to tuck it safely into our sock drawer.”
Now, with the winnings safely claimed, the Kerry woman is planning a dream adventure. She said: “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.”
The January 27 draw was also lucky for an online player from Dublin, who also won €500,000 in the EuroMillions Plus that night.
He gave his wife the most unexpected wake up call after realising his huge win, explaining: “I got up earlier than usual that particular Wednesday morning and after ignoring the email the night before about my win, I decided to log in to the app and check what I had won. I never expected to see €500,000 in the little green box!
“I was the only one in the house up at 6am, well it was myself and the dog. He was next to me looking for a treat and there I was trying to tell him about my big win. I ran upstairs immediately to wake my wife and tell her.
“She definitely didn’t mind being woken up with that news! I showed her the ticket and the two of us were slightly unsure of what to do next – it’s not every day that you start your morning being €500,000 better off!”
The online winner is going to let the win sink in but has an idea of how he will celebrate, saying: “I have always wanted to go on a cruise so I’m going to start looking at where to go.”
Meanwhile, tonight’s Lotto jackpot is set to roll towards an estimated €8.5 million. Players are reminded that tickets can be purchased in-store, through the National Lottery app or at www.lottery.ie ahead of the 7.45pm cut-off time for sales this evening.
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