Home 5 most unbelievable lottery winner stories
News

5 most unbelievable lottery winner stories

AFP

One of the biggest dreams almost everyone in the world has is winning the lottery, quitting the job, and figuring out how to spend the cash for the rest of life. As the lottery prizes start rising, more and more people buy tickets in hopes that they will be the lucky ones to win the unbelievable amount of money.

Even though winning the lottery is an incredible story in itself, it is usually followed by other interesting circumstances that make it even harder to believe. Below are some of the most unbelievable lottery winner stories that you can probably learn a lot from.

Frane Selak

Frane Selak is known as the “luckiest unluckiest man in the world.” According to an infographic created by Stefan’s List on this topic, he had escaped death seven times before winning the lottery in 2003. It seems that life has rewarded him quite well after torturing him for a couple of times.

In his lifetime, he survived a train accident, a plane crash, a bus accident, two car accidents, he was hit by a bus, and survived falling from a cliff. Finally, aged 74, he won the Croatian lottery prize worth $1 million.

Stephen Cooke

What’s better than winning $13 million on the lottery? One thing that can beat this is winning $26 million instead. This is exactly what happened to Stephen Cooke, an American who got a nice surprise twice.

After winning the lottery Mega Millions in America and thinking he had won $13 million, he went to the lottery offices to cash in his prize. There, he was told that he had actually won two of the three tickets for the $70 million Jackpot prize, which amounted to $26 million. He was probably the luckiest guy on the planet that day.

Aura D.

A lot of people play the lottery for years, hoping they will eventually win. As time goes by, they lose hope more and more and eventually quit. This is exactly what happened to Aura D. from Florida in 2017 after buying lottery tickets regularly her whole life.

She won $30 million on the Florida Lotto Jackpot after quitting her subscription. Her winning ticket was actually her last one. It seems like there cannot be better timing for luck to finally spot you. She didn’t even choose her winning combination but used computer-generated Quick Pick numbers.

Etta May Urquhart

When someone wins millions on the lottery, naturally everyone around them will be happy as well, hoping to get a piece of that huge cake. This was exactly what happened to Etta May Urquhart who won $51 million on Mega Millions in the USA. However, her son did not want a part of her winnings, but all of it.

She notified the authorities that her son stole her lottery ticket since he claimed that the money is his because the ticket was bought with his money. Luckily, Etta proved that she had bought the ticket with her own savings. In the end, she shared only a portion of her fortune with her son.

Marvin and Mae Acosta

Finally, a story that we can all learn a lot from. One of the biggest problems those who win the lottery have is not knowing what to do with the money. More often than not, they end up spending all of it in a short time on alcohol, drugs, parties, and luxurious travels.

However, Marvin and Mae Acosta were smarter than that. After winning California’s $327.8 million Powerball prize, they spent six months building a team of layers and financial advisors before claiming the prize. They didn’t want to take any chances with their newfound wealth.

20 lucky lottery winner stories!




Multimedia

 

AFP

AFP

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.

Latest News

ben cline
Virginia Politics

Reese Bull | Ben Cline is costing Sixth District farmers their livelihood

William & Mary
Trump's America

Trump DOJ now targeting William & Mary over disadvantages to White kids

Here we go again, with the head of the Justice Department’s race-baiting division, Harmeet Dhillon, a UVA alum, taking aim at another Virginia school, this time, the College of William & Mary, alleging that White kids aren’t getting a fair shake there.

trevor dunbar uva track and field
Go 'Hoos, Sports

UVA Track and Field: Trevor Dunbar hires Sam Bradley to his new staff

It’s feeling like Trevor Dunbar is more than the interim with UVA Track and Field, with today’s news that Dunbar hired a new assistant, Sam Bradley, away from Radford.

uva football kam robinson
Football, Go 'Hoos

UVA Football: Status reports on Kam Robinson, more as training camp winds down

facebook
Trump's America

Suit alleging that Meta intentionally addicts children, teens finally gets to trial

Tom Perriello
Virginia Politics

New poll suggests Tom Perriello has a good shot in the Fifth District

donald trump golf
Trump's America

Trump threatens Oman, South Korea: Warner asks – whose side is Trump on?