Whatever you believe, there’s no doubt that some people seem to go through life either blessed with incredibly good luck or cursed with terribly bad luck. Those who won the lottery are often seen as being especially lucky, but sometimes, they’ve had to endure a streak of bad luck before catching a break.
Inspiring stories of Health Lottery winners
Let’s start by looking at a few winners from our own archives.
Roy Baker had played the same numbers for years, without any luck. The family was struggling, barely able to pay for heating in the winter. After his son won some money from The Health Lottery (twice!) Roy decided to change things up and pick random lottery numbers for his THL ticket. It was the right choice to change his luck, and he and his wife Margaret were rewarded with £100,000.
Lucille Ashbourne from Wolverhampton won the same life-changing sum after matching the numbers 6, 7, 21, 23 and 29. She only found out she had won after her sister-in-law called her to break the good news.
“I was shocked and felt completely numb” Lucille told us, and that she had no intention of stopping playing The Health Lottery’s main draw!
The New Jersey friends who won the lottery when they needed it most
Have you heard the story of the “Ocean’s 16”? No, it’s not the latest entry in the “Ocean’s 11” film franchise. Instead, it refers to a group of 16 New Jersey co-workers and friends (all employed by the Ocean County vehicle maintenance facility, inspiring their nickname) whose lottery syndicate won a large jackpot in 2013.
Among this group of friends, several had lost their homes to Superstorm Sandy the previous year. Others had suffered the recent loss of beloved parents. The large win, resulting in $3.8M for each winner (after splitting it with two other winning tickets!) allowed some winners to purchase new homes and others to retire early.
Good luck turned bad
Unfortunately, not all lottery winners get a happy ending. Consider the case of Florida lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare. The casual labourer won a $30M jackpot in 2006, which should have meant he was set for life. Instead, the win led to a series of misfortunes for Shakespeare.
First, his friend and co-worker who had purchased the tickets for him sued Shakespeare after he wouldn’t share the prize. Then, in 2009, Shakespeare was declared missing by his family.
His body was later discovered under a concrete slab. His friend and business partner Dee-Dee Moore was convicted of his murder. This lurid tale from the annals of lottery history has been the focus of several episodes of true crime TV shows.
The myth of the “Lottery Curse”
Despite sad stories like that of Abraham Shakespeare, there’s no real evidence for the idea of a “lottery curse.”
Most people who win the lottery go on to quietly enjoy their wealth; many even continue working their day jobs.
It’s simply that the more dramatic stories capture our imagination, of winners who spend their money like water and end up bankrupt, or those who get taken advantage of by those around them.
You can read about other common lottery misconceptions here.
Whether you have good luck or bad, whether you play lotto online or purchase tickets at the corner store, whether you play your lucky numbers every week or choose randomly, we hope these lottery winner stories inspired and entertained you today.
And it goes without saying that however much or little you might win, the good that your play does supporting good causes means there are some winners in every draw or game you play!
That's true no matter which of our games you choose to play, be it The Big Win, All or Nothing, QuickWin or Instant Win games.
