We've all dreamed about winning the lottery. It's something that would change your life and make your dreams come true, so it's natural to fantasize about what you'd do with all that money!
I think for me, I'd pay off my car, buy a house, travel a bit, then keep it in a savings account so that I could always have the cash I need. No point in spending it all in one go!
However, the lottery is not always what it's cracked up to be. Many people in South Carolina were fooled on Christmas day when lottery machines malfunctioned and told everyone they were winners.
"I had been promising [my kids] for years [to take them to Disney World] and I thought I would finally get to, and now I can't," Nicole Coggins said. "I don't play the lottery that much. Every once in a while, I'll buy a Powerball ticket, but something told me to buy a lottery ticket. I was having a good day and I wanted to try it."
According to lottery officials, there was a "programming error" which lasted for more than two hours, which caused an overabundance of winning "Holiday Cash Add-A-Play" tickets, which are only available on Christmas day.
"From 5:51 p.m. to 7:53 p.m., the same play symbol was repeated in all nine available play areas on tickets which would result in a top prize of $500. No more than five identical play symbols should appear for a single play," the lottery said. "As soon as the issue was identified, the Add-A-Play game was suspended immediately to conduct a thorough investigation."
Everyone who thought they won probably won't like Jane Park, who considered suing the lottery for ruining her life...after she won.
Jane Park was 17 years old when she won £1.25 million on her first ever lottery ticket. She spent £25,000 BMW, a £17,000 VW Beetle and a £18,000 Range Rover customized in purple. She then quit her job and took a two month vacation, where she ended up buying a three bedroom house and a second property. She also spent £4,500 on a boob job, had lip fillers and Botox.
Park ended up moving back in with her mom, claiming living alone was "hard work [and] stressful" because she "couldn't even make a bed." Now 21 years old, Park is seriously considering suing EuroMillions, saying "at times it feels like winning the lottery has ruined my life."
"I thought it would make [my life] ten times better but it's made it ten times worse," she said in an interview. "I wish I had no money most days. I say to myself, "˜My life would be so much easier if I hadn't won.' I think 18 should be the minimum age for winning the lottery, at the least. The current age of 16 [in the UK] is far too young. You can't give a 17-year-old that amount of money."
Park says that even though people think winning the lottery is fun, they just don't "understand the extent of [her] stress." She's not seeking legal assistance in filing a lawsuit against the UK National Lottery to raise the lottery age.
A spokesman for the company said, "We have been in touch with Jane from time to time since her win to offer ongoing support. It is always up to the winners as to whether they want to take up that support. We will continue to support Jane in any way we can if that is what decides she wants."
"I have material things but apart from that my life is empty," Park confesses. "What is my purpose in life?"
