A MAN who won an incredible EuroMillions jackpot was unable to claim his winnings after losing the ticket.
Dion Davies, 47, from Wales had forgotten all about the ticket he’d bought on a whim during a work trip until cleaning out his car weeks later.
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The Ceredigion-based actor was was preparing for his vehicle to be valeted when he stumbled across a £55,086 winning EuroMillions ticket.
Dion had bought the ticket when he was starring as the Dame in a Christmas production of Sleeping Beauty at The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven.
It was only when he was giving his car a quick once over before it was professionally cleaned that he made the happy discovery stuck inside his sun visor.
“I needed to clean the car both inside and out because it was in a terrible state after lots of journeys,” Dion told WalesOnline.
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“So I took it to get valeted, at which point the guy asked me to take all of my belongings out before he started – just in case he threw away something that was valuable.
“And I’m so glad he did because I found a multi lottery ticket in my sun visor that I had bought in December from Tesco in Milford Haven where I was performing in the panto.
“I then took it to the Spar shop in Tregaron and the chap there said I needed to call the number on the back of the final ticket because it was a winner.”
Dion, who’s also appeared in BBC’s Torchwood and Ruth Jones’ Stella, matched all five numbers – plus one Lucky Star – after drawing them on based on family birthday’s.
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But the ticket had been officially announced as unclaimed by The National Lottery the following month.
The Welshaman eventually broke the news to his wife, Ifana, and the pair decided to call The National Lottery to make the claim.
“Ifana had a friend round, so she stayed with us while we made the call,” Dion said.
“When the person at the Lottery said it was a winner, we all went – along with a neighbour – to get some lunch together, which of course included some glasses of fizz.”
Had Dion tried cleaning the car himself rather than taking it to the garage, he believes he may have not bothered checking his numbers at all.
But the pantomime star got his fairytale ending and planned a trip to Italy with his wife and their 15-year-old son.
The sci-fi fan then planned to take his son to the annual international Comic-Con convention in San Diego, USA.
Elsewhere, a man revealed how he lost out on a £3 million lottery jackpot after purchasing a winning ticket – and the years-long ordeal that followed.
Martyn Tott, from Watford, was just 25 when he lost out on the cash due to a technicality.
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And a couple who thought they won a £182million EuroMillions jackpot were sent a galling message from the lottery.
Students Rachel Kennedy and Liam McCrohan had already begun to plan how to spend their windfall in 2021.
