A FORMER HGV driver had told how he almost lost his £1million lotto win after making an easy mistake.
Stephen Schiltz, 59, claimed his mind played tricks on him when he reported the win, leading lottery bosses to think he was a scammer.
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Stephen was trucking along on a usual day in his lorry when he heard that a £1million ticket had yet to be claimed by a winner in Wales – where he had recently moved to.
Thinking nothing of it, he cracked on with his day forgetting that he had copped a couple of tickets himself before the winning numbers were announced.
The former Londoner was out having a few drinks when he remembered, and was shocked after discovering it was him that had the winning ticket.
He immediately phoned his wife, Lesley, 55, and she thought he was joking because he’d pranked her before by claiming to be a winner.
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He said: “I couldn’t believe it.
My mind was playing tricks on me in the excitement, but I got it right in the end
Stephen Schiltz
“I heard the numbers and my friends told me I should check my ticket.
“So I scanned the code on my phone and it came up. It said I had won £1 Million.
“I rang Lesley and she thought I was pranking her because I have been known to do that in the past.”
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However, this time he was smack on the money and phoned Camelot to bank his newly-won fortune.
But when he spoke to the prize-giving firm, he forgot where he bought his ticket so Lotto execs thought he’d been scammed by a dupe ticket from a dodgy shop.
The former lorry driver then luckily remembered that he’d copped the life-changing ticket in Tesco, Pontardawe, but mixed it up with the local corner store.
He said: “My mind was playing tricks on me in the excitement. But I got it right in the end.
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“It all feels like a dream and I just don’t want to wake up.”
The giant win comes as the couple admitted to living “hand to mouth” in London seven months before and having to move to Wales to avoid rising knife crime in London, reports WalesOnline.
He said: “It was a day-to-day struggle and we were living hand to mouth.
“We were also dealing with knife crime in London so we decided to move away.”
LOTTO WINNER NEAR-MISSES
Lotto winners up and down the country have shared tales of when they almost lost their winnings before even being able to spend it because of little-known rules or family members thinking it’s a scam.
MUM IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
Joanne Jobson from Hartlepool, County Durham, snagged the top prize on Set For Life and now banks £10,000 every month – and will do for the next three decades.
But the hardworking carer revealed how she almost missed out on the prize money after her mum believed it was a scam.
After Joanne checked her account and discovered she had won an jaw-dropping amount of money, she rushed to tell her mum, who she lives with.
She said: “I jumped out of bed and went to tell my mum.
“I remember just saying to mum ‘I think I might have won a lot of money’ and showing her my phone.
“Mum was convinced it was a scam, so I googled the winning Set For Life numbers for the same date to see if they matched – which of course they did.”
It was only when Joanne got through to staff at the National Lottery that she was able to confirm that her life had changed forever.
A MOVING OUT GIFT
Lucky punter Alan Jones, 56, had almost axed his ticket for his sold Tyne and Wear property.
Instead, on the last day in his home, Jones’ Westerhope postcode struck gold with him and five other neighbours who all netted £166,666 each.
Jones said: “I was going to cancel my ticket and renew it wherever I end up. Thank goodness I didn’t.
“I’ve got to be out by 2pm tomorrow and I’m basically packing up the house now because I need a new start. This has helped give me that.”
CHECK YOUR LOTTO BALANCE
Euromillions winner Ian Anderson scooped a £1million jackpot prize, but nearly missed out on the life-changing win.
Ian Anderson, 77, and wife Marlyn, 70, bagged the massive sum after copping the fateful £2.50 Lucky Dip ticket.
The elderly couple only had £4.90 left in their National Lottery account before they opted to take a chance on the jackpot.
Marlyn, who now cares for her terminally ill husband after he was sadly diagnosed with pleural plaques and pulmonary fibrosis, always plays the Lottery but had no idea that one day she would win big.
She recalled: “I just thought there is no point £4.90 just sitting in my account, I will buy a lucky dip ticket for the next draw.
“It was the day after the draw that I saw an email saying there was good news about my ticket.”
LISTEN TO YOUR GUT
Tamsin Burling, 33, admitted to learning a big lesson after scooping £83,000 on the lottery
The mum, who won her share of £1million alongside her Kent neighbors, said her fiancé Craig Billington once tried to convince her not to buy a ticket.
But she ignored him and now they’ve scooped tens of thousands of pounds.
Craig, 32, looked on sheepishly as Tamsin, who at the time was seven months pregnant with their third child, celebrated the five-figure win.
The couple, who share six children together, only realised their money worries were over a couple of nights after buying a ticket.
He said: “I was driving the lorry and heard on the radio that someone from Wales had matched the numbers, I just thought ‘lucky sod’ and then never thought anything more about it.
“And then a couple of nights later I was out for a drink and remembered I had got a ticket.”
Since his win, debts have become a thing of the past, although he admitted to still being worried when a withheld number calls in case it’s a collector.
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He has also pursued a dream he had when he won and started up his own haulage-type company with his business partner Mathew Williams.
He said: “I’m loving the haulage work Mathew and I are doing. Our win has given us this incredible opportunity to work on our own terms.”
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