AN UNLUCKY grandmother told how she was a EuroMillions winner for just ten minutes – before it all came crashing down.
Margaret De Micheli, 72, bought a ticket for the £34million jackpot on March 29 – but didn’t get around to checking if she won until last week.
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She went to check the ticket at her local post office – and was astounded when a shopkeeper handed her a slip saying she’d won.
Gobsmacked Margaret was urged to go to nearby Tesco to check the numbers one more time before calling the lottery.
The nan rushed across the road to the nearby supermarket in Swiss Cottage, North London, where keen staff quickly checked her numbers.
But her hopes of a retirement for her hard-working husband, 78, came crashing down moments later.
The Tesco worker said her ticket didn’t have the winning numbers. She called up the National Lottery, who confirmed the devastating news.
Margaret told the Sun: “I was gutted. I’d never had one of these claiming tickets before – and I’ve been doing the lotto since it started.
“I was quite surprised when I got this claiming ticket – I didn’t know what to do with it.
“They said go to Tesco. And when I went there it came up as a none-winner.
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“I thought it was because I had two lines on my EuroMillions ticket.
“I was quite convinced that the line I won on was the one I did for my grandson – it’s his birth date.
“I phoned the lottery line and I spoke to a lady and she checked all the numbers on the ticket. And they weren’t tallying up.
“I was gobsmacked. I asked why I got the claiming ticket and she said the person in front of me [is probably who the claim slip was meant for].
“It was a bit of a let down and I was quite gutted.”
Margaret said she wasn’t thinking she won millions, only enough to let her beloved husband retire.
“When I got the ticket I wasn’t thinking about millions, maybe £25,000 or something like that.
“I just wanted enough so I could phone my husband and tell him to come home, so he could retire from work.
“He’s a traffic warden and it’s a thankless job – he’s 79 this year. He goes out at 5.15am and comes about 4.45pm.
“I just think about him because he’s such a wonderful person. He’s my soulmate.
“We’ve been married for 54 years and I couldn’t bare my life without him and I just want him to be able to retire.
“It’s very good that [the job] keeps him occupied with his brain, but at the same time he’s body weary.
“He should have retired at 65 but we just can’t afford it because where we live the service charges – we’re lease holders but it doesn’t mean we’re millionaires.”
Margaret is terrified that the rightful lottery winner falsely believes they haven’t won.
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“Afterwards I just thought about the person who had the ticket and them not knowing and them thinking they’d got nothing,” she added.
“She urged everyone to check their numbers – especially if they bought their ticket in the Swiss Cottage area.”
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