30 January 2024 , 11:53
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A woman who became a millionaire after winning the Lottery initially dismissed the congratulatory email as a scam.
Deborah Burgess, 56, had been recuperating in hospital after a blood transfusion after chronic anaemia. The month before she had bought a month’s lot of Lotto tickets but did not check her emails for several months while she recovered.
When she finally got round to checking her emails she found one from the National Lottery urging her to check her account as she was a winner. When she died she was shocked to find she had landed a £1 million prize - but only believed she really was a millionaire after checking if it was a scam.
Deborah said: “I had the shock of my life when I did check my account. I was a millionaire for months but didn’t know it.
“I don’t play The National Lottery every week but when I do, I buy maybe a month’s worth of tickets via my online account. I don’t check my account regularly and I was then poorly for a while, including time spent in hospital. I then had a holiday to help with my recuperation so it was months before I actually checked my emails.”
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Deborah said she enjoyed celebrating her win like an "F1 driver"“I had finally got around to catching up on things after a tough few months and was checking my emails at home - there were so many after not going online for a while. I noticed I had one from The National Lottery with a reminder to check my account because I was a winner, so I checked my account with my Mum there and then.”
A phonecall to the Lottery confirmed the incredible news she had matched five numbers and the bonus ball in the draw of Saturday, August 19. The winning numbers were 2, 7, 17, 28, 31, 37 and the Bonus Ball was 8. She is now planning a holiday to Hawaii and, back home, converting a bedroom into a bathroom and is having a fence replaced.
Deborah added: “The last few months have been a blur - Illness, then going back to work, holidays, Christmas, New Year - I just couldn’t find the time to celebrate and I was very conscious of monitoring my health. Finally getting hold of that big cheque and spraying champagne like a Formula1 driver has been well worth the wait.
“I’ve bought a new car. It’s not brand new, but a nice Hyundai. I wasn’t going to sell my car but my friend wanted to buy it from me. It feels wonderful to be able to do such a thing.”