A fortunate man stumbled upon a lottery ticket he had forgotten about in his coat pocket for half a year, only to realize he had won £13 million.
The father, residing in the Frankfurt region of Germany, had been unaware of his windfall throughout the spring and summer despite a campaign to locate him, as reported by the Lotto Hessen company on Monday. The revelation came as the weather began to cool, prompting him to retrieve a jacket from his closet that he had not worn since March.
Upon discovering the ticket and deciding to check the numbers, he was “astonished” to learn that he was the fortunate recipient of €15,336,286.40 (around £13.3 million). “It wasn’t until the weekend that I rediscovered the ticket, neatly folded in the inner pocket of my jacket,” the man disclosed.
“After verifying the numbers on my phone and seeing the prize amount, I was completely taken aback – fortunately, I was seated, or else my knees would have buckled,” he remarked. The man had even been aware of the campaign, which was initiated after the unclaimed winning ticket lingered for two months, and conceded that he had thought at the time: “How foolish could someone be not to claim it?”
Nevertheless, he stated: “It never crossed my mind that I could be the individual they were searching for.” When asked about his plans for the substantial winnings, the father mentioned that he would first purchase a new sofa for the living room.
He and his spouse expressed intentions of utilizing the remaining funds to support their children. The affluent couple affirmed they would keep their significant victory private. Lotto spokesperson Martin Blach commented: “Out of sight, out of mind – unbelievable, but that’s likely how it transpired.”
In a similar scenario back in 2013, a British couple became lottery millionaires after overlooking their numbers for three weeks. David Nelson, 77, and his wife Susan, 67, had left their winning £1 million ticket idle in a drawer.
It was only after coming across an appeal for a missing EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle winner to come forward that they realized it was them. Retired upholsterer David recollected, “I had safely stowed it away for a few weeks, forgetting to check it at the time.”
“Then, one midnight, I decided to inspect my ticket upon learning about an unclaimed winner. The revelation that it was the winning ticket left me absolutely stunned. I woke Susan up to share the news. It’s amazing,” he added.
Susan chimed in, saying, “When David woke me up, I was overjoyed. Neither of us managed to sleep that night until we could confirm it was true.”