Rachel Kennedy was left ‘absolutely heartbroken’ by the glitch (Pictures: Instagram/Rachel Kennedy/Twitter/Liam McCrohan)
A teenager was left ‘absolutely heartbroken’ after missing out on a £182million EuroMillions jackpot when her ticket payment didn’t go through.
Rachel Kennedy, then 19, couldn’t believe her eyes when she double-checked her numbers on the app following the draw on February 26 last year and saw a notification saying ‘Winning Match’.
She called her mum and boyfriend Liam McCrohan, 21, into the room, with the trio envisioning how their lives would change.
But her hopes and dreams quickly crumbled when a call to lottery bosses Camelot revealed the ticket wasn’t automatically purchased beforehand because she only had £2.50 in her account.
She told The Sun: ‘I called the number thinking that I had won £182million and they said “yeah you’ve got the right numbers but you didn’t have the funds in your account for the payment of the ticket so it didn’t actually go through”.
‘I was on top of the world when I thought I had won, but when I found out I hadn’t, Liam was actually more upset than me.’
The student had played the same numbers five weeks in a row before they came up (Picture: Instagram/Rachel Kennedy)
Camelot has now sent the couple a ‘good luck’ message for future draws
The teenager, who was studying business at Brighton University at the time, had played the same numbers – 6, 12, 22, 29, 33, 6 and 11 – for five weeks in a row before they actually came in.
This week, Camelot, which has run the state-franchised lottery since 1994, sent the couple a ‘good luck’ message for future draws.
A spokesman said: ‘We’re aware of Rachel’s story and hope she gets in early to buy a ticket for the next big draw.’
EuroMillions players have been urged to check their tickets after a UK player matched all five numbers and two Lucky Stars in the £54,957,242 draw on Friday, June 10.
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Camelot said at this stage it could reveal only that the winner bought their ticket in a retail store, rather than online.
There will be no information on whether the ticker-holder is an individual or syndicate unless the winner decides to go public. Players have 180 days from the day of the draw to claim their prize if they have the winning ticket.
Last month, married couple Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, became the UK’s biggest ever EuroMillions winners when they scooped an eye-watering £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket in the draw on Tuesday May 10.
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