Mum who had winning lottery ticket thrown in the bin finally bags £12million Lotto jackpot – AOL
A mum who endured an excruciating 30-day wait to find out if she had won £12million after her lottery ticket was thrown in the bin by a shopkeeper will scoop the lot.
Kath Main, 46, discovered the June 6 Lotto jackpot had remained unclaimed and recognised the winning numbers 10, 26, 30, 35 and 42, remembering they corresponded with the identical combination she has played for more than 20 years.
However, the ticket had been thrown away after she took it to a Londis store in Abercynon, south Wales, to be verified after she was supposedly informed it was not a winner. The National Lottery operator Allwyn has been examining the allegation ever since an appeal was lodged.
Over a month later, she found out the good news and now she’s planning what to do with the cash. A spokesman for the operator confirmed the pay-out, saying: “We are the only major lottery which is able to look to pay a winner even if they have lost their ticket.
When she realised the prize had gone unclaimed, she had to double check -Credit:Kath Main/Facebook
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“The investigation we conduct is designed to ensure any claim is from the rightful ticketholder. We are then able, at our discretion, to pay that player once the claim period has expired 180 days after the draw. We are proud to pay out millions of prizes as well as raising over £33million for Good Causes each week.”
Kath, a mother-of-two who serves as a rugby club treasurer, hasn’t yet spoken about her win, but said last month that the uncertainty left her struggling to manage.
“I just feel sick all the time, it’s the not knowing and waiting,” she said. “I saw there was an unclaimed lottery ticket and checked the numbers and realised they were mine.
“I rang my mother and said, ‘You did put the lottery on?’ and she said ‘Yeah’. I said, ‘Well we’ve won the lottery,’ and she said, ‘I checked and there was no winners’. I said ‘No, it’s a winner, we’ve won’.”
When Kath enquired about the ticket’s whereabouts, she was informed it had been thrown away. When the worker accepted the ticket for verification, they stated the machine failed to generate the customary alert and the shop assistant informed her no winning prize had been displayed.
The Londis shop didn’t have CCTV because it was being refurbished. Proprietor Karan Kumar said: “The machine could have been playing up. Now they are doing an investigation. It would be amazing if she won.”
Kath revealed that one ambition would be to travel to New Zealand for the Lions rugby tour in 2029.
Some previous players have also managed to secure big prizes after initially misplacing their tickets. Builder Andrew Clarke claimed £76million in 2018 despite losing his ticket for six weeks.
He said at the time: “It almost feels like some magical Christmas story, the man who nearly lost £76 million!”
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