A young couple, Rachel Kennedy and Liam McCrohan were left devastated after their numbers came up for the $216 million jackpot on the EuroMillions, only to find out they were not eligible for the prize.
A young couple won the lottery, gaining $216 million.
Rachel and Liam, who were 19 and 21 at the time, were stunned when they realized that the numbers they put on every week had been drawn in 2021.
Rachel told The Sun at the time: "I went on the app and it said 'Winning Match' and I thought 'Oh my God, I’ve won.' So I called my boyfriend Liam and my mum into the room and they couldn't believe it either."
The couple instantly began to imagine buying their dream mansion and luxury cars, before calling up to verify that they were about to be one of the UK's biggest-ever lottery winners - but were soon to face crushing disappointment.
However, a young couple misses out on EuroMillions jackpot
Rachel had played the same numbers for the past five weeks in a row but was devastated to realize that her ticket payment hadn't gone through on the crucial night.
She explained: "I called the number thinking that I had won $200 million and they said 'Yeah you've got the right numbers but you didn’t have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket.'
The young couple from Hertfordshire admitted they got "a bit carried away" dreaming about spending the mega-millions after they checked the numbers on the National Lottery app.
Despite having $200 million slip through her grasp, Rachel admitted: "I’ve never won anything before, we’ve just got the worst luck when it comes to stuff like this."
Previous, lottery winners are disappointed due to a loophole
Previously, a woman who won a $2.5 million house in a lottery received just $6.2k instead due to a 'confusing' loophole.
In a similar incident, Loretta, a schoolteacher from Radford, won a 'Win My Home' competition for a house in Nottingham's Park Estate.
The competition organizers, Win My Home, even published a congratulatory video of Loretta on their website.
However, Loretta was 'heartbroken' when she learned that she wouldn't receive the luxurious accommodation she had hoped for.
Instead, she was offered a meager sum of $6.2k due to a loophole in the competition's fine print.
According to the terms and conditions on the competition website, if the net sales don't reach $2.5 million, the winner will only receive 50 percent of the net proceeds, which in Loretta's case amounted to just $6.2k.
She told Nottinghamshire Live: "It was heartbreaking because my property at the moment is a death trap, that's why I entered it [the competition]."
"And they told me I hadn't won the house but I had won a grand prize of $6.2k. I was like 'Right, thanks' and they said 'Unfortunately because we didn't raise enough money I can't give you the house.'"
In Loretta's case, this amounted to a meager sum of $6.2k, a far cry from the luxurious accommodation she had hoped for.
Loretta and her husband, who are eager to move out of their current residence, were disappointed by the outcome. Despite the setback, Loretta remains hopeful for a fresh beginning.
